Crash Course
by yungchoppa
Summary: The Lyons' Pride routine flight, to visit the aftermath of the events of FO4, doesn't go according to plan. The B.O.S is brought back into the fold. Two crashes, one holding a scribe from the original chapter of the Brotherhood. The other, a contingent of NCR troopers, and someone by the alias, "Courier." Peace is gone. Brotherhood Forever. (Hey! Just revised Chapter 2! Look at it)
1. Good Morning, Commonwealth!

_**Just a oneshot I had saved, hope you enjoy - PepoClap**_

 _ **Also, context, Fallout 3 Vertibirds are referred to as the 'gunship' variety. Whilst the Fallout 4 ones are tactical some somethings, you'll know it when you see it.**_

 _ **And Sarah isn't dead, she and Maxson both are Elders, but for their seperate Wastelands, to do anything substantial, they have to agree.**_

 _ **Edit! We got some updates to this chapter, and it's now at 4K words! Yay. Expect more updates, and a chapter. ~PepoClap**_

* * *

The Vertibird soared, propellers slashing the air. Alex sighed. Despite the fact that he was one of the first people to ride a Vertibird frequently, the experience didn't get better. He did like the fact that they were riding in the first Vertibird liberated. What'd he name it? _Ophanim._ When Scribe Rothchild asked him as to why the name, his brain brought him back to the Vault days.

 _Simpler times. His father read him the Bible and in it, mentioned a class of Angels. Ophanim, were there to protect the throne of God. Fitting to have the Vertibird protecting their skies named after the holy guardians. Rothchild, slightly disappointed nodded. As he passed, Alex could hear, "NCR get Bear Force One, and we get a class of Angels. We are in the Pentagon and we can't have a Air Force One?"_

* * *

A loud creak emitted from his radio in his helmet. He opened his eyes, HUD popping into his vision. In his bottom left corner, a call. Elder Lyons popped into a box in his top right corner. His ammo count moved to the bottom right corner.

"I've got a feeling that Maxson is up to something, something… Do you think he wants to attack the people here? Sometimes I get the idea that he's adopted the views of the Outcast, more about collecting technology, than protecting the people of the Wastes. I played a hand in raising him, we were like his parents you know? I just don't want him to do anything that goes against what we taught him." Sarah spoke.

Despite the fact that they were in the same Vertibird, she didn't make a move to the cockpit. Alex muttered, "I don't think he'd go against anything **you'd** say. I think he liked you when I first met him. Even when we started dating."

Alex remembered the fourteen year old, as if it was yesterday. _God I'm getting old._

Alex spoke again, "Flying over Gunner territory now, you strapped in? Might get rough. Kinda hoped Maxson cleared this area for us already."

Tapping into the squad channel he let out a string of info, "Gunner territory, it looks slightly flooded, trenches lining the front lines and then we've got a mix of concrete and wood ramparts. This place used to be a dock. Eyes open."

Gunners standing on the ramparts of their junk fortress had only seen a Vertibird once. They were in possession of one. A tactical variant, with sliding doors and a minigun on both sides of the cabin. One of them grunted, and they raised their rifles.

"Vargas get on the turret controls! We need to clear this place out before they get their explosives out!" Sarah barked. She turned around, grabbing her laser rifle, "Seraphim" from it's spot clipped on her seat. "Gallows, open the doors now! Me and you are gonna drop!"

Alex kicked the cockpit doors open, "Me and Colvin can't keep the Vertibird in the air with all of those guns hitting us! Get 'em off us!"

Sarah nodded, she grabbed a grenade, popped the pin and threw it onto the Gunners below. She took a jogging start and jumped off the Vertibird. She landed, creating a shockwave from her T45-D Modified Power Armor. She switched her Laser Rifle on and started laying bursts of red light into the Gunners positions. She swiftly walked forward and slammed her stock into the head of a cowering private. "Night-night."

She continued on. The pangs of the weak guns simply scratching her armor. She raised her rifle and mowed down another three. One crept to her right and she slammed her Powered Fist into his skull, and she felt it cave in, instantly dismembering his frontal lobe.

She tossed her empty cell out of the chamber of her rifle, slid in a new one and fired at a cocky gunner. As he turned to dust, she turned to the Vertibird, waiting for her fireteam partner.

Gallows dropped, he had his Plasma Rifle in his right hand, Stealth Boy in the other. As he jumped, he became invisible. Sarah could hear a light thud and a grunt next to her. _Why wasn't he wearing Power Armor?_ She could see Gallows's outline on her hud, she spoke through her comms, "Flank right side! I'm gonna draw their attention towards me, then you go in and kill 'em with their pants down." She got up from behind a concrete wall and fired away. She pulled out a Pulse grenade and threw it in the air. It landed onto a barrel. Fourteen eyes widened. After the blast rang out, Fourteen closed.

* * *

Alex gripped the throttle, bringing the Vertibird upwards. His eyes widened, he saw a Gunner wearing crude Power Armor. In his hands was a Fatman. "Colvin pull away, pull away!" Alex got up leaving Colvin behind to control the Vertibird. "Vargas, target that Gunner before he takes us down!"

He ran towards the radio station near the gunship controls. He powered it on, he sent out a distress beacon and tried calling their sister Gunship, "Virtue." That gunship contained the rest of the Lyons' Pride. "Kodiak we need assistance, we are gonna go down if we don't get some backup!"

Colvin shouted from the cockpit. Alex got up, when flames erupted from the hull. Alex, confused stepped on the flames, immediately perishing. _How? The hull can take most of these rifles. Unless._ He shouted into his comms. The squad channel blew up with his voice. "They got Laser Rifles too! Watch out!" The ramp, which had been closed after Gallows had dropped was hanging wide open. Alex stepped back, looking at the melted hinges.

This time, a rocket head buried itself into the ramp, just missing the entrance into the gunship. The ramp was torn in two and the Gunship started to sway. Alex stumbled forwards and slammed his body into a seat, taking it out of it's bolted spot on the floor. It flipped in half, and flew out of the cabin. Alex's gripped another seat, desperately trying to keep himself inside. He screamed over the gunfire,"Keep us up Colvin!"

Alex grabbed his Laser Rifle from it's resting place on the rack on the wall. The 'Bird shook and he stumbled, but he caught himself and reached into his Magnetic Backpack. He pulled out a micro-fusion cell and slid it into the chamber. He flipped the switch on his AER-9 "Archangel" and stood up over the edge. He grabbed a railing on the side to steady himself, the winds rippling against his Lyons' Pride Power Armor. With his left hand still gripping tight on the railing, he brought his Laser Rifle to his eyeline, aiming. He slipped his finger into the trigger guard, he tugged onto the trigger and beams of scorching light tore at a Gunner's throat.

He felt several bullets hit his armor but ricochet off. A Hunting Rifle sounded and a moment later he felt something tear his side. He stumbled backwards. The Vertibird tilted forwards and with Alex not holding anything, he slid forwards. He began gaining momentum before hitting the seats. He held onto Gallows' chair and with his other hand, pulled himself up.

* * *

Sarah saw beams of light hit the Vertibird repeatedly. She didn't have much time to register the decaying hull. Two Gunners had pushed forward and fired at her. She felt two hits from a G3 hit her chest. Her plating stopped both shots from piercing her skin, but she could feel the tips of the bullets near her ribs. She fired at one of the Gunners with her rifle. The other responded by laying another burst, this time it hit her arm, where less plating was there to stop the hit. Three hit, two grazing her forearm. The other was more fortunate, it pierced her forearm and embedded itself in her flesh. She let out a cry of pain, but pulled out her 10MM Pistol with her left hand and fired twice. The Gunner hit the floor with a sickening slosh. She let out a groan of pain, before clutching her arm.

She fell back, she felt the gears in her armor move and a second later she felt the tip of the stimpack pierce her right arm. She sighed, pain leaving almost instantly. She quickly dropped in another cell and got up. She let out a volley of Laser beams. Three assailants fell to the floor, each missing a head. She ducked behind cover before their returning 5.56 fire could take her out. Her gloved hand grazed over her stun grenade. She had an idea. She through it as high as she could into the air, and as it was coming down she blew it up with her rifle. The Gunners eyes were clothed in white. She pulled herself up and aimed. A beam hit a Gunner in the jaw, melting through the bone and hitting his brain. She took aim at the other one. She aimed down her sights, lining him up. A single squeeze and he turned to warm dust.

She heard a distinct crackle from a weapon about 100 feet away from her. A Fatman. She saw the mini nuke soar through the sky. Time slowed. Her comms lit up, "Sarah! We are gonna go down!" Colvin screamed into her head.

The warhead hit the tail of the Vertibird. She felt herself get pushed by the shockwave of the hit. Then she realized no, that wasn't a gust of wind. That was her trying to move. Her body realized the tail rotor was going to hit her. She pushed herself onto her feet. As she stumbled she could sense the rotor was about to hit _something_. Time flew forward. A split second and a crash took her off her feet. She slammed into a metal railing, taking it cleanly off and she was submerged in water.

* * *

Colvin was pinned. The Vertibird had fell on it's side and the other seat in the cockpit had fell. Several extra pounds were added when the control system and scraps of metal fell from the impact. Clad only in recon armor, he could do nothing but call for help.

"VARGAS! Alex? Somebody get me out of here!"

Nobody responded.

Colvin tried moving, but he was stuck. He cut see the cockpit slowly shift, groan and slowly crumble closer to him.

* * *

Vargas opened his eyes. He looked around. The sky hit his visor. He looked around. He wasn't in the Vertibird. He got to his feet, He squeezed his left hand. Opening the paneling on his left arm. On the forearm, a blue display screen lit up. His HUD wasn't working. He went to reach for the display with his right hand, but when the arm pierced his vision, he couldn't stifle the incoming scream.

His right arm was mangled to the point of resembling more of a corpse than an arm. He forearm was shatter in two spots. His bone perforated from his forearm and his elbow was pointing the opposite way. His right arm ligaments were laying on the floor next to him. Three torn veins were curled around his steel grey arm, painting it a vivid red.

He reached for the locks on his helmet with his left arm, but when he felt the helmet, he realized how lucky he was to be alive.

The back of his helmet ceased to exist. Nothing of it left. The only part of his helmet that was left was one of his ventilation pipes and his visor. Which as he took a second glance at, was peppered in scratches. Nothing was protecting his mouth, and his visor hung over his eyes like a pair of goggles.

He spotted, Sarah and trudged his way over to her.

* * *

Gallows was covered in blood. Not his own. He pulled the Ripper out of the side of the Gunner's neck. He'd gotten the guy holding the Fatman. But not in time. All he had left was the Ripper, a Laser Pistol and satchel filled with about 4 stimpacks. There were probably more Gunners heading towards the crash. He was in no position to get his squad members out.

He looked at the bodies, his plasma rifle lay discarded. It's barrel bent, from where he used it as a bat to kill a Gunner who knocked his Ripper to the floor. He pulled a M4A1 from the hands of a body. He checked the clip. About twenty or so shots. He had worn recon armor for this OP, so he had no HUD, his teammates exact locations and statuses remained unknown to him. He tried his radio.

"Sarah? Alex? Vargas are you guys still intact.? Colvin what's your SITREP?"

Nothing. He flicked off the safety and started jogging towards the smoke.

* * *

Sarah woke, "Sarah," piercing her dead comms. She was in murky water. She swam towards a piece of rebar and hefted herself up. The bar snapped in half after she got off, but it served it's purpose.

She gauged her situation, her Laser Rifle was still magnetically clipped to her backpack. She had about another handful of microfusion cells. _So give or take 110 shots._ Strapped to her thigh was her pistol, that had another clip. Her helmet still worked, it saved her from drowning. She tried her comms. "Gallows, you there?"

Static hit her ears, but was cut through by her familiar friend's voice. "Yeah, I'm heading to the crash, probably more Gunners on the way. Virtue is coming, let's get to them so we can get the hell outta here. Gallows out."

"New orders, just get to the site, I'll be there as soon as possible. God, I hope they made it."

Gallows laughed, "Those are some tough SOBs, I doubt they are dead. Alex on the other hand? I haven't really gotten to know him. All I know is that we had a drink battle and he passed out before I started to slip away. Barely even had a buzz."

Sarah chuckled, her lover was not a drinker. "Probably used to drinking clean water and eating uncontaminated food, anything that's got a bit of punch will probably knock him out."

"Last time I checked, you passed out at the same time Alex did. We gotta get you guys drinking. I can't have you guys pass out on shot five."

Sarah sighed. Gallows had sounded off in her ear about the crash site. "God damn it. Sarah, the Vertibird looks recoverable, but uh. Colvin is in there screaming his head off. I gotta check it out."

Sarah started sprinting. Metallic feet slamming into the mud, she could hear the ground groan as the Power Armor tore through the grass. She had her rifle out. Alex had gifted her it. _I hope you like it. I named it after the most powerful class of angels. Reminds me of you. Powerful, angelic and fucking badass._

She'd gifted him "Archangel" a rifle similar to hers, AER-9s with the finest modifications the think tanks at the Citadel could make. She smiled, reminiscing over how she'd managed to get Rothschild, the scribe who always blew her off, always doing "more important tasks," cornered. She'd gotten her wish, and both of their rifles were the last things any enemy of the Brotherhood see, before they were turned to dust.

Her heart stopped when she got to the crash site. The Vertibird had landed on it's side, but hadn't broken into several pieces. The crushed right wing was crumpled, scraped and had a fire on it, but they could fix it. Give it a little while and they'd have the gunship up and running, They had gotten the Prydwen up and running in mere months after all.

She gripped the stock of the AER-9 tighter and glanced at the battered cabin. She could see Gallows pulling parts of the decayed ramp so he could get inside.

She was about to join him when she heard several steps behind her. She snapped around, a gun in each hand. Vargas had walked over to her, blankly staring at the sky. His right arm was horribly misshapen. Vargas fell to the floor. He hit the ground with a thump and sat there. Sarah couldn't see the lights upstairs working. She spoke softly. "Vargas? Are you here with me?"

Sarah turned pale when the scream hit her ears. It wasn't Vargas, it wasn't Colvin.

 _Alex._

* * *

Alex woke up. His body battered. He looked around the broken interior. He tried moving from the wall he landed on, but he was stuck. He looked down, ready for the horror that he was about to look straight into the eyes.

His right arm he knew, was already fractured. Not that horrible, he had worse. But he was impaled. It pierced his left side. It punctured the bottom rib, and blood had started flowing around the piece of metal, but not too horribly. His eyes continued traveling downwards. Both of his legs broken. His armor no longer housed his injuries, all of the plating lay on the floor. He was only clad in his under armour.

Then the pain hit him. Shock wore off and his body couldn't push the pain away and keep him numb. He'd fought and killed many with his bare hands. He'd killed a behemoth was he'd encountered in Downtown D.C near the Washington Monument and killed it with just a 10MM Pistol. It hit him once. A swipe to his leg. It'd shattered his foot, but he managed to get it angry enough to swing his makeshift bat in his right hand. Made partially of a column it'd had gotten from god knows where and a sharpened wing from a 747. It hit a building, tearing through the walls and landing near him, but he'd managed to dodge it.

The building tumbled on top of the mutant. Burying it under tons of steel, metal and concrete. He winced as he saw the exposed rebar plunge into his neck. Veins the size of his arms exploded, nearly drowning him in blood that wasn't his.

Here. he felt as if the bat had hit him. The sharp edge cutting through each of his limbs with pain so bad he suppressed the need to puke. Then, the impaling let out it's own pain onto his body. This, was equivalent to the rebar tearing into the mutant. The icing on the cake was injury to his legs.

His legs sent out bullets traveling up his body and into his head. He couldn't suppress it anymore, he let out a screech of pain, as life started to exit out of his body, he let his pain overtake him.

He fell in and out of consciousness. "Stay with me 'Lex! Virtue is landing!" Sarah had shouted at him. He responded by pouring more blood out of himself.

His eyes had opened later, revealing Sarah with bloodshot eyes. His eyes glassy and partially covered in tears, scanned the interior. Gunship. Knight Captain Dusk looked over at him, she spoke something to Sarah who'd grabbed his hand and let a squeeze. He registered Sarah speaking, "Hold on…. We are gonna make you better and we are gonna live like a happy family okay?"

Alex closed his eyes.

His head jutted with pain, he'd bumped into something. His eyes shot open, he wasn't numb anymore, the pain had shot back. He writhed on the stretcher. Screaming.

* * *

Squadron Foxtrot looked over. Even their C.O, Knight Lieutenant Mattias looked visibly shaken. There was the Brotherhood's poster boy, whithering, crying and covered in so much blood. Surrounded by several scribes and the Lyons' Pride, all looking visible saddened. But to the witnesses, seeing their idol, their Messiah in their eyes stripped down to a fragment, that was scary. He was untouchable and seeing him with pain clearly shone on his features terrified even the most confident initiates.

Mattias scanned the Pride, looking for _her._ Sarah. Alex's SO, his wife. He couldn't feel her pain, he didn't quite get the hurt that shone in her bloodshot eyes. He couldn't understand what the bags under her eyes really meant. Sarah's pain was unreadable, Mattias couldn't understand how someone looked so internally dead. So _broken._

He took off at a quick pace, walking over to Dusk. She simply shrugged him off and kept walking. Mattias persisted. "Dawn. God damn. What-" she turned to him and grabbed him by the helmet and pulled him to look her in her flaming eyes. "Look. I don't want to keep things away from you, but let this is something I won't, can't talk about right now."

* * *

Sarah looked at the door to the infirmary again. She tried willing the door to open and have her Wanderer be perfectly normal, but he had to go through some Physical Therapy.

The door cracked open a sliver, then as Doc held the door open for her Sentinel to hobble his way out. She was surprised he wasn't in a wheel chair, when Dusk was trying to keep him stable, she told her that both of his legs were shattered from the knee down. Truth be told, she was surprise he wasn't dead.

Alex crutched his way over to where she was sitting. His eyes were bright, his hazel eyes looking as innocent as when she first met him. As intoxicating as the same time she layed eyes on him ten years ago. _Really, Sarah? Swooning over him like you were twenty one?_ She stifled that thought to the back of her mind. She let herself get caught in the net of Alex.

She pulled him into a hug, she heard him whisper, "Missed you, Sarah."

She pulled away slightly, so that he could face her. He leaned downwards to met her shorter frame. She gripped his face and pulled him into a passionate kiss. Time slowed. He mummered something inaudible against her lips. As they both pulled away, she swung her left arm around his neck, bringing him closer to her. With her right hand, well.

A crack rang through the air, Alex recoiled from the hit, He nearly tumbled, but Sarah pulled him into a kiss.

"You ever, _EVER_ do that to me again and I will personally kick your ass."

Alex laughed, "I don't plan on leaving you, Sarah. God knows you'd find me in death and still beat my ass."

Alex gave Sarah a warm embrace. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna die. I've been through Hell defending the wastes, I'm not gonna go down now."

* * *

 **Mmm. Hopefully you enjoyed, 'cause this is probably some of my best work. Ever. That being said, I also just recently just picked up writing to share. Uh, but if you like this, updates should come biweekly, or so. But I do have some handfuls of oneshots for these characters in my Universe, and Afterlife, If you like Bioshock Infinite, another one of my favorite games.**

~PepoClap


	2. Welcome Back to The Fray

**REVISED AS OF 10/26/18**

 **Some notes! Alex and Sarah had been previously engaged in the previous chapters, something that I quickly realized was odd. They should've been married after the events of Fallout 3, let's say 2278 or so. Ally would've been born in 2281, as she's six. Because of the age, I had to break out the baby voice. But of course, I do think I messed up in the decision to use it. Haven't talk to a six year old in a while, but I don't think they'll have perfect grammar. I mean look at me, how many times have I used too many commas? Or what about those sentence fragments? Yikes.**

 _Other than that, let's go get that bread. - PepoClap_

* * *

Sarah rechecked her Laser Rifle. Perfectly cleaned, filled with ammo and 100 percent battle ready. But why was she feeling queasy? Oh yeah, Alex was out of Physical Therapy and this would be their first duo in a while. Mission was simple, head to Dunkirk Factories and retrieve the device. When the Brain started talking about the tech, she couldn't help but tune it out.

She and Alex, together. Fighting. They'd done it countless times before, but she felt different. She felt overprotective. She scolded herself for thinking about the _Lone Wanderer_ like that. He'd been at _least_ twenty times the soldier she'd been. From fighting Behemoths as they were Rad Roaches to single-handedly diffusing the situation that'd happened at the Pitt. She wasn't even scratching the surface at his accomplishments.

No.

She hadn't breached his force-field of achievements. So here she was. In the Prydwen Armory, sitting on a crate of Aqua Pura waiting for him. Thoughts shifted back to the mission. A Resonator of some sort, to add to the restored gunship. They'd replaced the regular 5.56 Chain-gun on the bottom of the Vertibird to a Plasma Gun on the bottom, and two Laser Turrets on the sides, with an arsenal of explosives they could launch from the Vertibird.

She'd felt glad that their first mobile home had been given the absolute makeover. Virtue soon followed those improvements and the Pride had an absolutely massive toy box of toys to use. From their newly acquired Institute tech to the Enclave equipment still being refitted and relaunched for the Brotherhood to put to use.

Yet…

It wasn't enough. It wasn't perfect, not enough to make her feel completely safe at letting her Wanderer go. She desperately wanted her lover to be safe, but that attack. She'd never seen him in so much pain. She'd been in the Brotherhood since she was born and pain was something that came with it, but…

But.

Those eyes, his eyes. Her blue eyes met his hazel. But his weren't shining with happiness and love. They were shattered, pits and fragments of their former glory. God.

Explaining to her daughter that Daddy wasn't gonna be home for a while broke her heart. Her leg was burning now, searing, as she felt the card in her pocket burn it's way out of it's cage and onto the floor. " _Give this to daddy, he'll feel bewwer soon."_ She let out a broken laugh. Her choked voice tearing through the air.

"Yeah, sweetheart. Soon." Her voice thudded out into the metal hallway. She threw her face into her hands. Watching him limp around on crutches, or having to be wheeled into places by a caretaker was sometimes too much for her to handle. She forever grateful for the offer Piper had given her. Taking Ally, so that she would be with her "Cousins."

Her heart hurt. It was just her and Alex now. They had no other family, their parents were gone, and her father only got to see Ally for a short while before he passed. He used to say, _"Sarah. This made it all worth it. I'd do it again if I had to. She's just so perfect."_

Then her ears would be graced with the rare thunderous laughter she hadn't heard in years. All because of Ally. " _C-coat! Mamma, coat!_ _"_ She pointed at his Elder's Robe, and as if it was the law of the first Maxson, she had to have her own coat. She let out a small sob, she hadn't even seen her baby in a few days and she starting to feel terrible. Small bits of guilt slowly chipped at her resolve, slowly washing it away. But with Alex back? That was a breather she so desperately needed. Speaking of...

She heard distinct steps coming towards her. Her head snapped up.

Alex stood in front of her, his brown hair long and parted on the side. He knew the rules on hair length but didn't care. He gave her a lopsided smile, He was holding his helmet with his left hand. 'Archangel' was clipped onto his back. She glanced at his thigh, she saw the glint of the polished Desert Eagle.

Alex let out a laugh, "Undressing me with your eyes _already_ Sarah?

Sarah, cheeks now decorated with a light pink turned away, she croaked out a, "Shut up."

Alex walked over and plopped onto the seat. The crate started to creak and groan under the weight of both their Power Armors. "Ally is getting so big, I hate watching her on the fuckin' screen. I just wanna see my baby girl."

Sarah nodded, very slightly. "I haven't been able to sleep. I feel so useless sometimes. Arguably the best solider, a great leader, but I let my Husband, my other half get mutilated? Even worse, I have to break the news to my daughter? I'm such a terrible mother."

Alex looked at her, puzzled, as if the truth she just spoke, was wrong. She gazed at him, his mouth parted, and closed again. He swung his arm around her, and pulled her close.

"We both know that's a lie. Nobody could _ever_ compare. Ever. You are the definition of perfect. Now. Stealth mission? Fuck."

Sarah smiled at that thought. Her lover had accidentally tripped on the dirt stained carpet, and knocked over a fridge. Raiders took notice of the 6'1 Wanderer struggling to clean up the mess as if they were on the Prydwen. When they broke into the room, he was blood red and was apologizing to the cold-blooded killers. " _Oh fuck! I'm sorry, I think I just broke some Nuka-Cola's. No-no it's alright, I'll pick it up."_

Sarah had taken advantage of her Husband's blunder. They'd gotten out without a scratch, but the embarrassment was still shone clear on his features when they got back to the Verrtibird.

* * *

The only thing that could be heard as Alex looked out the open sides of the cabin were the calm, but deafening slashes of the Vertibird's rotors. As they meticulously tore apart the wind, leaving in it's wake empty space. A sharp crackle tore through the white noise, and Alex's headphones lit up. Lancer Corporal Dunn called out, "Sentinel and Elder, dropping you off about a klick away from the mission site, you'll be able to set up on the hill overlooking the site. Ad Victoriam."

Sarah checked over the Sniper, loading a clip of .308 into the rifle. She called out to Alex, "8 shots. 20 guards. Raiders or Gunners, that's unclear.

Alex gripped a rock placing his bipod on top of it. He turned back to her and spoke quickly, "Don't engage yet. Gotta do something first." He turned back around and opened a small rucksack that he had taken from the aircraft. Out slipped two chocolate bars, amounts of rads varied, but it was candy. "You want one?"

Alex was back, that was true. She shook her head and dropped onto her stomach, steadying her rifle. She took a glance down her scope. Men unsuspecting of the impending two-man siege about to befall them.

Sarah shifted, her Combat Armor's chestplate scraped the dirt, .308 magazines rattling against the ground. She slightly turned to the side and grabbed out her radio. "Dunn, going offline on comms. Should be back on in an hour and a half. Sarah out."

Alex tossed the plastic wrapper onto the dirt and crouched behind the rock, his hands gripping the Steyr Scout. He turned around, "Fire at will."

Alex's hands rested on his rifle. He looked down the 4x scope. He reached with his left hand, adjusting the magnification. He settled at 6x magnification. He drew in a large breath. "Fire at will now, Sarah."

Both of them lit up two guards standing near a forklift, painting the faded yellow with vivid red. Sarah turned her aim to a barrel, top open housing a fire. Four men gathered around it. She took out her current clip, reaching into her backpack, she produced a single magazine of HEI rounds. She drew in a breath.

This sound wasn't muffled. A sonic boom rang out. The barrel had exploded, covering two of the men in flames and the other two in shrapnel.

Alex looked over at her, "They know where we are at now, probably should abandon this location."

He stood up, laying down several shots as Sarah slipped off to the right.

He took off towards a large rock. He crouched behind it, turning to Sarah. "Gotta get closer so we can put these assault rifles to use." He stood up right after and let another two shots zip through his barrel. He quickly shot back to a crouch, he peeked around the left side of the rock and fired precise shots with the help of his EOTech Holographic sight on his M16A4.

Sharp pangs sounded out into the coldish air of November as the bullets impaled their cover. Alex turned and lay a volley of four shots. More men crumpled to the decaying concrete.

Sarah took off from their rock, M16 in her hands. She aimed down the EOTech Holographic Sight, letting a spray out, taking out a man's throat. He went to grab his neck, eyes wide and then they closed. She continued firing. More bodies slammed against the floor.

Alex could only watch, mouth agape. Sarah continued, going hand to hand with an obviously inexperienced opponent. She pulled out her M9 Bayonet and stabbed him in the neck. The fountain of blood splattering her armor with a vibrant crimson. She wiped the side of her face and gripped her gun. "Still a little bit of 2277 Edition Sarah still left in the tank."

Alex tossed her a magazine, "Tank looks full to me."

Sarah caught it with her gloved left hand. She quickly slid it into the lower receiver and smiled, "Always know how to make a girl feel special, don't you? Let's get inside."

* * *

"Shit." Sarah muttered to the nonexistent partner behind her. When she kicked opened the doors a large amassment of men behind sandbags all pointed their rifles at her. Alex was a step behind her a second ago, where'd he go?

She heard a whisper in the air, she knew that voice. " _Duck."_

She fell to the floor as Alex turned the corner, Desert Eagle and M16A4 in each hand. He fired down the entrance, lacing each body with at least four shots. He crouched, both guns spent. The entrance was originally a drab grey, with hints of olive. Now, it was covered in streaks of vivid red.

Alex had taken the hit for the team. He'd usually be fine if he didn't get laced with an entire magazine's worth of NATO rounds. His shaking hands quickly unclasped the metal clips holding his Combat Armor Chestplate attached to his body. It hit the floor with a sickening thud, and several rounds that hadn't hit his chest rolled out, spent and dented. The sudden blood loss was getting him dizzy. He leaned against the wall and slammed a stimpack into his bloodstream. "Sarah, hand me the water bottle in my bag." He rasped out.

Sarah, shaking at the sight of her Husband. She just got him back, and seeing him riddled with bullets like the training dummy scared her. He groaned and clutched his chest. Blood continued finding it's way out of his body. Alex let out a shuddery breath and grasped her left hand. A light squeeze and she focused her gaze back on him.

"Pour it on me, Sarah." She looked at him confusion spanning her face. Water would clean the wound sure, but they had more pressing matters to attend to. Still, the desperate look, Alex gave her made her second guess. She tilted the bottle and a steady stream of water flowed out. Almost calming, to the panicking Sarah. She was not a medic. Seeing anyone of her Pride members hurt was like getting shot without armor. The water dripped along his torn armor, and some went into his bullet holes. He winced, but his wounds started to stop pouring out blood. The bullets flowed out and they started to close.

"How… what just happened?" Sarah stepped back and dropped the bottle, the cloth cover muffling the clang of the flask hitting the silent hallway. Save for Alex's pained breaths. He rolled over onto all fours and the color slowly returned to his face.

Alex let out a laugh, his chest firing back with pain. He caught his breath and continued. "Rads, most likely. Mutations in my DNA or some shit. Whatever happened, whether it was the purifier or the Pitt, it's not perfect." He stopped, and let the pain pass. He lightly smiled at her, "As you can tell. Bones those don't really heal. They take a while, but skin and muscle? Faster. I'll be good to go in fifteen minutes."

Sarah lightly nodded. She was still in shock. Whether it was this newfound knowledge or the fact she didn't get any inhumane powers, she couldn't tell.

Sarah, dazed continued, _what else was he hiding from her?_ They came upon another door, it was labeled with dozens of warnings. "Radiation Hazard." to "Flammable Materials Please Keep Away."

She grabbed the handle, and swiftly tugged it. She tried pulling inward, but still no cigar. It was locked. She lifted up her pistol and took aim at the rusty hinges when Alex pushed her pistol downwards.

Alex huffed forward, using his M16 as a cane and shifted over to look at the door. He turned around, a less pained grin on his face glowed from his features. She smiled back, his return was something she needed. Sleepless nights filled with worry had taken its toll on her. She may have had Dogmeat, and Alex's posse of misfits, but she missed her father. He'd set her straight. But, Alex was back now. Things would get better, and for the most part, they had.

He pulled out a bobby pin from his chest holster and leaned down to examine the doorknob. "This is practically opened, Sarah. Have you opened locked things before?"

Sarah was silent as her husband did his magic. "Almost got it…. There." A click sounded from the rusty handle and he turned it open.

Sarah grumbled, "Of course I've opened locked things. Just not quietly."

Alex looked back at her, "That's the Sarah I know and love. Nice to back."

She nodded, and Alex held the door for her to walk inside. As he followed suit he could feel the hairs in the back of his neck prick upwards. The pit in his stomach came back full force. He was back to full speed, and as he straightened his posture, Sarah gasped in front of him.

Sarah's eyes widened at the still active reactor. She pulled at Alex's left arm, examining the Pip-Boy 3000A. She heard the ticks coming from the Geiger Counter and spoke quickly. "We need to find a Hazard Suit, _fast._ I'm not gonna lose my hair and I don't want to see you bald."

Alex smirked, "Saying I wouldn't look good as an egg Sarah? Hair or no Hair, I'm a snack."

Sarah slapped his shoulder. "I'm serious, get on it. I'm gonna protect the entrance."

Alex's eyes scanned over the electronics. Maybe he'd just turn it off. His hands glided over the keys of the many terminals. Hmm.

He turned, examining the room. There were two doors, one leading to the airlock and the other to the… actually what was that room?

His hand turned grabbed the knob, it was locked but he didn't have the time. He stepped back and lay a kick with his left leg. The door flew back, and the doorway shook. He nodded, content. _Still got it._

He pulled open one of the many lockers. A suit fell to the floor. It wasn't his size. He went to work, pulling the doors and examining the insides. Another suit hung. Sarah's size. _I can't ask her to do that. Look for something else._

He turned and walked over to the desk. He powered on the terminal. Password protected. No surprise. He scanned over the words. The cursor fell over a bundle of text, _first bug_. A word removed. He continued, scanning each symbol on the screen, looking for another bug.

* * *

Sarah's eyes widened. A small platoon of Muties was heading towards her. One held a plasma rifle and another held two Tri-Beam Laser Rifles in both hands. There was about four more, but she had to duck to avoid being spotted. As they slowly got closer she peeked to the right and got a good five-second glance at them. They were obviously better trained than the mutants they'd wiped out a decade ago. These were less yellowish green and were instead a sharp green contrasted by the dark armor they donned. She'd seen some white markings on one of their chest plates, but she had to duck to avoid another wave of detection.

She quickly scanned the guard station she'd set up. Alex had left his Steyr Scout lying on the ground next to her. The plain grey painted rifle was light but fired .308. Those bullets packed a bigger punch than the more intermediate 5.56 rounds that her M16A4 fired. She also still had her more powerful M40A5 propped up against the sandbag next to her. She shook her head, they were now to close her to use those effectively. She could pop out right now, donned in light Brotherhood Combat Armor. Two clips for her M16A4. A pulse grenade and...

And an idea. She had a Stealth-boy she received from Alex lying inside of her small satchel clipped onto her back. She could leave now, slip out of the area without being detected. But, she'd have to leave Alex to fend for himself. She knew he was capable, but that would be cowardly. Not to mention distasteful. She turned it on, becoming invisible. She slipped into the room where Alex was busy trying to get the terminal to work.

* * *

Alex let out an annoyed grunt. He tried once more, but the slamming of his fist a few seconds later highlighted his failure. He was competent with computers, but these were corrupted. Files that were crucial to the operation of the operating system were gone. Eaten away by the imaginary bugs. The code was lost. His hands were tied, he could only blast open the door now. The reinforcement team of the 'inhabitants' of this building were most likely going to be here soon. He shook his head and grabbed out his Fusion Charge.

He was about to walk out of the room, and call for Sarah, but she was already there. Her eyes were locked onto the double doors behind her.

Sarah turned to face Alex. "We've got to get the Resonator now, or we will get closed in on by a highly equipped Mutant force."

Alex sighed, "Suit up in this then." He handed her the Hazmat gear and he set the Fusion Charge on the airlock door. "Go in, and pull the Resonator, the reactor is broken. There's no real security system in there, but the reactor's been hit by a steel beam or something because it's casing has shattered on one side. It's leaking major rads there but has been for the past 220 or so years. Let's roll the dice and hope it isn't too bad. You should take this Rad-X too."

She tossed the now spent syringe onto the floor and ducked behind a concrete pillar. The door gave out a deadly screech of pain, but the explosion tore through both doors with ease. Her body flipped onto autopilot as she sprinted into the cancer-causing reactor.

* * *

The Mutants heard the explosion and quickly turned attention to the boarded up doors. They threw themselves against the door, metal groaning in pain.

Sarah ran out of the airlock. The resonator in hand, she pointed to a stack of crates and overturned boxes. "Let's hide here. Let's let them break open the door and see if we can slip past them. Or shoot a couple before the rest can shoot us dead. Either or." Sarah whispered.


	3. Concussive Troubles

**Hmm, converting the doc seemed to take away some of my punctuation and all of my line breaks, sorry for the awkward reading. It's fixed.**

* * *

Alex vision was blurred, his head pounding. "Sarah?" He stood up and stumbled forward, several Mutants lay dead on the floor. His eyes widened as he realized there was still some alive.

 _Sarah had pulled her lone grenade, tearing off the pin and throwing herself to the ground. She remembered shouting just before it blew up, "Danger close! Duck!" Her combat helmet flew off god knows where._

 _She remembered thinking, is this it? Is this where it ends? She was thrown at a pile of crates. Alex, was knocked out on the floor._

 _She pulled out her rifle and fired at the one rushing towards her. It slammed it's pipe axe into her side. She'd managed to lace his entire forehead with 5.56 rounds. The axe tore itself out of her side, leaving behind a crater. As her vision became foggy. As her mind started to think about the end. As her body went into shock at the sudden loss of blood, she remembered letting out a slight laugh. Out of all her battles and moments where she could've gone out in glory…_

 _This would be it. In a factory, sent to retrieve a non-vital piece of technology. Not to assist the Brotherhood as a whole, just to allow for extra firepower on the Pride's Vertibird._

 _She let out a final thought, before shutting down. I'm sorry, Alex._

 _In her dream state her mind drifted towards the thought of their home. As the door swung open to their home in Boston, Sarah took a moment to admire the home they had gotten because of their dedication. Maybe something that the Sentinel under Maxson's wing would've have called, "Horrific."_

 _This was as close as they were going to get to a pre-war home. That was fine with her, she and Alex weren't used to that perfect lifestyle. This would be enough._

 _She walked over to her favorite room. The "Storeroom," as the Brotherhood scribe who'd shown them the home was revamped. Alex had spent several days overhauling it. He broken a wall down and expanded it, and after all was said and done. The Armory was state of the art. Alex was a hoarder of technology, much like the Brotherhood._

 _Lining many of the shelves were dozens of weapons he'd collected during his life in the Capital Wasteland. Her eyes glided to the crown jewel. She walked passed all the crates, the shelves and lockers, her eyes gazing at the security bulkhead._

 _Her hand drifted towards the keypad, the entire alphabet lined the keyboard. Her hands tapped at the metallic keys, the distinct 'clicks' and 'clacks' sounding out. She finished the password and the many locks clicked and sounded out. The small shriek the door gave as it moved out of it's spot out of the wall sounded off in the room. Alex walked into the room, behind her._

 _He snaked his arms around her waist. He leaned over and spoke, "Dinner is almost ready." With that he slipped out the room, and back into the delicious smelling kitchen. Her eyes gazed into the room before her. Both their Power Armors were locked up in cryo chambers. On each side of the Power Armors was a false wall labeled with their names. She walked over to her's. She tugged at the lever and the wall moved to the left and she saw her locker and display cases now at the forefront of her vision._

 _In the biggest case lay her Laser Rifle. Alex would have a identical case with his equivalent of her rifle laying dormant._

* * *

He had a choice, run now, while everyone was disoriented and hope Sarah was outside. Or he could stay, looking for Sarah.

He choose the latter. He stumbled, hitting the floor, dry heaving against the dirt covered concrete. His Desert Eagle lay on the floor two feet away. He slowly crawled his way over, his head throwing curses against his head-splitting migraine. He gripped his Desert Eagle and aimed at the dual wielding Tri-Beam Laser Rifle mutant, who was struggling to stand. A shot rang out, and the .50 bullet hit the floor, covered in muscle and flesh.

Time flew forward. The disorientation and headaches still slammed themselves against their heads, but it slowly ramping down, slowly numbing. The remaining Mutants turned and started to fire at him. He dodged to the right, rolling and ending up in a crouch behind a wooden crate. He gripped the M16A4 he had slung over his back, gripped it and fired a burst.

Another green monster hit the floor, blood pouring out of the three gashes lining his torso. As he repeaked, a pile of crates flew up from their spot on the floor. Sarah emerged, holding a M16A4 in her right hand, the other hand drifted towards her side.

His eyes gazed at the flesh, a cavity in her side pooled out blood. Alex got up and fired, eyes no longer in a state of shock. Instead, bloodlust shone clearly on his features. He slammed the stock into a fallen Mutant. He held him in place with his left foot. He slammed the muzzle into his eye. He fired three bursts. He kept mashing the barrel of his gun into his brain.

Alex turned around at the voice of his lover. "Stop… He's dead." He slung his rifle on his back and started sprinting towards her. Sarah took a step back, her arms shielding her body.

Alex's eyes widened in realization. "Sarah, I'm not… I'm sorry. I, they did that to you. I-" She cut him off by slinging a sentence laced with microblades. "Get away from me, you _monster_." She pulled out a stimpack, stabbing it in her side.

He noticed the limp she walked with. He hefted her up on his shoulder. She protested, "Stop! This is worse than whatever the Mutants would do to me! You brutally massacred him!" She continued screaming. Each vowel stabbing into his heart, and every word she spoke fueled his internal battle in his mind.

* * *

As he sat on the drab seat, he stared longingly at Sarah. Hoping for her to say something. His heart hoped that it was all some sort of a cruel joke, but his mind told him that she spoke the truth.

Sarah finally spoke, "In my service… There were moments of fear. Moments where my life no longer made sense. But, fear at one of my brothers? Never. But-" She took a pause, her shaky breath tearing at Alex's mind.

She continued, "What you did back there, I mean… just look at yourself. There's so much blood. Violence was always part of my life… but mutilation-" Her voice broke, no. _Shattered_. She buried her hands in her face, a sob wracking her body.

She steadied herself, "How the hell am I supposed to tell Elizabeth that Daddy's a fucking monster?"

The broke something in him. But, he couldn't move. He just let the words dig their way into his head, were they tore apart his conciosusness. _What a monster. They call you the "Last Light of Humanity" but when you really get down to it, how much better are you than the Enclave?_

Alex sat there for a while, but he knew he had to do something. He stood up, he took a quiet step towards her. He took another stride. He hefted himself onto the seat beside her. He reached for her hand. Her hand clenched, but when his fingers touched her palm, the tense grip she had, softened. He intertwined his fingers with the blonde haired Elder.

He let out a breath and spoke. "I'm not gonna do that to you. I won't… I'll try not to do that anymore. When we first met and you saved me. When you handed me your sidearm, The Laser Pistol you have on the stand in our storage room I think. When you gave me that chance to prove myself to you, I swore to myself that'd I'd do anything. _Anything_ , to get you on my side. You falling for me was something I never thought would happen. But, you are someone I want to be by my side forever."

The twenty-nine year old's mind floated back to the fond memories he'd made a decade ago. He was nineteen. Fresh out the vault. His thoughts snapped to her. _Amata._ Those words kept him up for days. When he visited her, answering her SOS call. Yet, she threw him out?

Sarah's head rested on his shoulder. She was tracing circles in the palm of his right hand. She glanced at his face, shone clearly in his eyes was pain. That _pain_. That look when he thought of Amata. She brought her left hand up to his face. She gripped his chin and pulled him down to kiss her.

"Don't think about Amata, she can't kick you out of _shit._ I'm here, and I'm the only woman you are ever gonna need. You are _mine_. Nobody else's." Sarah spoke, annoyance shone clear at the thought of Amata.

He let out a chuckle. "I'm not gonna leave you, you are the other half of me. Amata? She doesn't compare to you. She was once the only girl I ever cared about, the only other person I could ever think about sacrificing myself to. After I met you, she hasn't crept into my mind save for a handful of times. You are what keeps me going."

Sarah smiled. Contentment shone on her features. "I can show you _many_ ways I'm better than her." She purred. Her hand drifting downwards.

Alex's face heated up, "Here? The pilot may not hear us 'cause he's tapped into the aircom channels, but one turn around an-"

A swift tug downstairs silenced him.


	4. The Bear Shows it's Teeth

**Sorry for the delay, but I made this chapter extra long for everyone, along with some action. Hope you enjoy. (Also hope you enjoyed those oneshots, those were meant to just more character, well, to my characters.) ~LilPepoClap**

* * *

Alex's shoulders shook, his chest heaved and his arms were protecting his face. He let out a scream. _"DAD! I'm gonna kill everyone one of 'em. Tear them to bits. Parade the bodies. Revenge. H-"_

Sarah woke with start and immediately pulled out the 10MM Pistol in her nightstand. She looked down the night sights at the door, waiting for it to be blown open and Enclave members or NCR assassins sent to take out the Lone Wanderer and the Elder.

Then a weep and a shake from the body lying next to her. She tossed the pistol onto the nightstand, before shaking the body of her unconcious husband. He woke with a start. His usual upbeat and joyful eyes were visibly shattered and glazed with tears.

She wiped the rivers under his eyes and looked at him. "Was it, I-it was your dad right? That's what the nightmare was?"

Alex sighed and nodded his head. "I just want the pain to go away, Sarah. I just want to be truly happy. Every time I close my eyes, the faces of the people I've shot dead flash before me. I… I just want to go to sleep. Real sleep."

Sarah nodded. "Want me to get something for you? A tranq or something?"

Alex shook his head. He took a breath, his shoulders relaxed and he laid down on the bed. He reached out for her hand. "No-no. I... I just. Sometimes I forget you guys are actually here. I don't have anybody but you, Sarah. And now Elizabeth." With that, he got up and padded his way out into the hallway. He opened the first door on the right side and stepped inside. Sarah hot on his heels.

Laying before them in bed, was _Fawkes?_ Alex nearly burst out laughing. He turned to Sarah, who had her right hand covering her mouth. He muttered out a weak, "Shit, sorry. Second door."

This time, 'Beth was laying before them, Her small twin frame considerably smaller than Fawkes' three king sized mattresses. Her small form was under her pink Brotherhood covers, her right hand laying ontop of the left wing. Despite being asleep she still looked full of energy. Alex took Sarah's petite hand in his, intertwining his fingers with hers. "You guys really are real. Shit, even Fawkes."

That earned him a giggle out of Sarah.

This time, when Alex awoke, it was because it was daylight. He nudged his sleeping wife on the shoulder and slid his legs over the edge of the bed.

He pulled on a pair of grey sweats with a black hoodie with the B.O.S logo embossed on the front. He slipped his feet into a pair of ebony combat boots and stood up.

Sarah stood beside him. "God damn. What's the commotion going on in the living room?"

Alex perked up, his senses becoming fully wake. Yeah, he heard voices. He stepped into the hallway and the both of them were in engrossed in a horde of Alex's companions.

Fawkes and Dogmeat first noticed them and soon all of them were assaulting the couple.

Alex staggered back, gripping his temples. "Everyone! One at a time! What the hell is going on?"

Star Paladin Cross was still sitting on the blood red couch. She muttered a single word. "Butch."

Alex perked up. Fawkes and Dogmeat both tugged at him, pulling him in view of the monitor.

Charon was leaning against the wall in the back, cleaning his shotgun. He pointed to the monitor. "Shit is hittin' the fan."

Alex glanced at his childhood tormentor. "Butch? What's your SITREP?"

Butch shook his head. Alex could just barely make out the background. Seems like he was in the transmission room in the new West Wing.

"Dude. We've got more ghouls than ever. Patrol are getting attacked, tension has shot up. But the main thing? Two Vertibirds flew in and crashed. However, they managed to contact us. Here's the recording."

Butch pulled out a USB stick and jabbed it into the monitor.

Alex's eye widened. As the recording was loading he glanced at Sarah, whose brows were furrowed.

* * *

RECORDING FROM UNITED STATES OF AMERICA VERTIBIRD [CORRUPTED]

DATE OF RECORDING [CORRUPTED]

LOADING… Please wait.

40%

60%

80%

100%

"This is Courier Six, I repeat Courier Six. From the Mojave Wasteland. We have two 'birds from the Brotherhood of Steel, West Coast. For God's sake we come in peace. Don't shoot us down."

* * *

Butch reappeared. "Yeah. You got any idea who those guys are?"

Alex muttered to himself. "Courier Six… Courier Six. Doesn't ring any bells. What happened to her?"

Butch smirked, "This is where it gets crazy! Just like you an' that other guy, Jayden, she's got a shit ton of people with 'er too!"

Alex nodded and grabbed Sarah's hand. "Thanks Butch, I'll get on the next Vertibird to the Capital Wasteland. See you in a couple of hours."

He went to the Armory and nabbed a Grenade Rifle, his M1911 'Price' and his AER9 'Archangel'. His eyes kept leading him back to a case of rifles. "Uh… screw it, why not?" and took a 20ga Shotgun.

He threw on a B.O.S Combat Armor and opened the door to step back out to the hallway.

Sarah grabbed his wrist and pulled him back to their bedroom. "And you think you're gonna leave without me?"

Alex sighed, "Please don't make this harder than it has to be. I don't wanna leave either, but you've got to stay for the council. If you were still a Sentinel, i'd be different."

Sarah's grip loosened. She blew out a sigh, "Fine. But you've got to come back safe. Don't make any decisions without me there. And for real. Do not get hurt, or else I'm gonna beat you to death. I can not tell our poor daughter that your gonna be gone for another three weeks."

He smiled, "Don't worry. I won't." With that, he stepped out into the hallway, remembering to open the second door on the right.

* * *

Butch sighed and grabbed his P90 from the grimey table it was laying on. He pulled a scribe to the side and asked, "Do you know where the crashed Vertibirds are?"

The redheaded woman looked at him and spoke. "Crashed right in front of the White House one of 'em. The other just missed the Washington Monument and crashed somewhere in the trenches. According to reports, that one is very destroyed. It landed two and a half hours ago. A recon team is getting prepared to head to the one in the trenches."

Butch nodded and thanked her. Before he walked away he spoke over his shoulder, "Me, you and the utility closet later?"

He received a finger for his troubles.

* * *

Cass clutched her arm. She dozed in and out of consciousness. She let out a groan of pain. Flames were everywhere. Lining the cabin of the VTOL aircraft. She glanced at the closed door of the cockpit. She used her right arm, her good one, and tried using the chair next to her as support.

She managed to get into a crouching position before losing strength and hitting the floor. She let out a grunt and rolled over.

As she dozed, she could feel people moving around her, and screaming. Her eyes opened to Boone lying on the floor next to her, clad in NCR Ranger Armor but missing his helmet. Blood oozed from a wound in his armor.

Cass's eyes gazed at the Courier. Alice was clad in her own set of NCR Ranger Armor and firing her Ranger Sequoia at a ocean of ghouls.

Cass closed her eyes and let out a whimper of pain. She felt herself getting pulled up by someone. She looked up and saw the face of a NCR Trooper gazing back at her. The NCR soldier handed her his Varmint Rifle, a magazine and pulled out his 10MM Pistol.

She felt his fingers grab the back of her armor and haul her out the aircraft. She heard him fire three times and let out a order the remaining crew. She hefted the Rifle up and fired. Her arm ached. _Why didn't he get the rifle?_

She looked at Six again and saw her firing an entire magazine of 5.56 into a squadron of ghouls moving in on her.

Cass looked back at the mangled aircraft and saw three people walking out with visible wounds. _Where was Boone?_

The man hauling her around let out a curse and fired into a horde.

Cass kept dozing off before she felt herself get hauled up and hefted onto a shoulder. She let out a gasp of surprise before looking at the amount of ghouls heading towards them.

She raised her rifle and fired hot lead into a Reaver and saw him crumple to the ground in a heap of red.

She fired her entire clip, taking down several walking corpses. She turned her head to look at the man carrying her. "Uh, Trooper? Name? Stop swaying me so much! I'm getting dizzy."

The man looked down at her and spoke softly, "Ben Karamine. Don't have much time, I'm gonna get us into a building. I don't wanna die in enemy territory." He grabbed the Varmint Rifle from her hands and gave her the much less heavy pistol.

Cass nodded and started firing again. She spoke again. "God _damnit_ , there is too many of 'em! Our guys aren't gonna make it! Leave me here so I can kill the rest of them!"

Ben stopped for a second, before continuing on. "And let you get eaten here? I don't want to leave my men but I also don't want to die! You and me are the only people I care for at the moment. God bless the rest of them, but I'm not getting gnawed to death."

Ben had a point. What was she supposed to do with a handful of shots and no scope?

She groaned and clutched her arm. Her stomach slammed a fist into her side, where a wound she didn't know she had, bled more.

Ben kicked a door of a building wide open before running up the stairs. He reached the third floor and opened a door and stepped inside.

He set her down before pulling out his field kit. He tossed aside three MREs, a handful of spare mags, and water. He got to his medkit and pulled out several bandages and antiseptic.

He took off her Kevlar Vest and lifted up her shirt, exposing a gash coming from her abdomen to her hipbone.

He sucked in a breath and cursed. "God, we gotta get you to a medic. Fuck! Look I'm not gonna let you die."

Cass smiled and spoke, pained. "I don't wanna die either. Hold my hand okay? Keep me on this side of the abyss.

* * *

Alice gripped her Service Rifle tighter. She fired off another burst before taking two steps back. She held the M16A1 in her right hand and lifted up her M9 Bayonet in her left. Two confident ghouls stride up and took a swipe at her. She sidestepped and stabbed one in the head, facing little resistance from the skull. She fired twice at the other ghoul before pulling out her knife and getting ready for another wave.

Two NCR Troopers fired to her right before a distinct scream hit the air. She turned to see one of the men getting pulled into the horde of zombies by the neck. A ghoul slammed into her side, taking her off her feet. Her rifle flew from her hand and struck another ghoul.

She stabbed the ghoul in the neck with her combat knife and received a stream of blood to the face. She sputtered and pulled the body off her. She pulled herself to a crouch before four more ghouls slammed their rib cages into her.

Four shots rang out. She looked up to see her Boone looking back at her with a rare smile. He was sat on the floor clutching his side with his modded hunting rifle in his lap.

He tipped his beret. Three more ghouls came and grabbed her. Boone himself was in trouble was pulled away from the wreckage and pinned as a pair of claws tore into his combat vest.

Alice let out a blood thirsty screech and threw the ghouls off her. She curb stomped one of them and fired at the remainder. She hefted her Sequoia and let out the remaining bullets into the ghouls tearing at Boone.

She stumbled her way to her Service Rifle before making her way to her lover.

* * *

Alex touched down at Six PM. He swung the vertibird cabin door open, and stepped out. His boots hit the decayed concrete of the Citadel. He looked up and holstered his rifle.

His eyes gazed over the crew of his welcoming committee. "Ad Victoriam. I'm here to link up with one of the recon squads to recover the inhabitants of the crashed vertibirds. Butch? Let's go to the Den."

Alex walked back to the dormant aircraft and pulled his duffel bag from his seat and slung it over his left shoulder.

As he opened the door to the Den, where just him and DeLoria both sat. He looked over at him, "You got any recordings on them? Our drones haven't picked up anything?"

Butch nodded and clicked the remote in his hand. Alex glanced over at the crash site in the trenches. From the outside, the Vertibird no longer resembled anything more than a hull of flames and scrap metal.

The drone started moving closer to the craft and started to lose altitude and they could see the detail of the crash.

Alex's stomach churned. His brothers and sisters lay near the craft. Three bodies in scorched Power Armor. He looked at someone stumbling out of the crash.

A woman, wearing T-51B. She spotted the drone and walked over to it. Her armor was stained red and brown. She reached out with her good arm and pulled the drone closer to her. She threw her helmet off.

A brunette woman stood, her nose broken, blood trickling from her face from a gash on her forehead and spoke.

"I am Veronica Santangelo, Scribe for the West Coast Brotherhood, we wish to speak to Owyn Lyons."

Alex saw as she slumped against a wall and stabbed a stimpack in her arm. He turned to Butch. "Guess we are going to go to that Vertibird."

Butch sighed, "The White House one has people still alive. Alot of 'em. They got attacked by a horde of ghouls and some Super Mutants. They are NCR though."

Alex sucked in a breath. "Call for Sarah. Let's get suited up." He got up from his chair and walked to the new West Wing.

Their wing. They finally got to renovating the exterior parts and they received a entire section of the wing devoted to them. Coming with a kitchen, four bathrooms, two master bathrooms, eight bedrooms two of which are the master bedrooms.

They received two spare rooms which they turned into their own state of the art armory. This armory was at least double the size of the one in the Boston Airport. All of his Power Armors lined one wall, with the other wall covered in shelves and cases containing weapons that would make even a pacifist drool.

Then, his T-45 Power Armor. His Medic Prototype that was given the Lyons' Pride treatment. Above it was a cryo case, Alex walked over and cracked it open, making sure it was still at perfect temperature.

That's where he stored, 'Archangel.' He put his hands on the back of the T-45F Lyons' Pride Armor and pulled it open. He stepped inside and was greeted with the familiar green HUD.

He turned to Butch. "Let's go fuck up some ghouls."


	5. Killing and Confrontations

**Very sorry for not updating but high school is really drowning me in work. I do hope to release another chapter to Afterlife soon. so anyone who enjoyed that story, one, thanks, 'cause I really do enjoy writing Bookerbeth. If you could do me a favor, do go and give that a read. If you enjoy my writing, then I think you'll enjoy that.**

 **Now, to clear something I got a PM about. Yes, the protagonists are single man armies. But, I feel only intitally, as in the wastes, you wanna do something good? Your gonna need some people. For the LW, I chose the Brotherhood, obviously. Sarah is his wife, and the Brotherhood is kinda something he's already apart of during FO3 and DLC.**

 **Courier, I choose the Boone/Female Courier ship 'cause I wanted to add some more of my personal favorite ships in. Since she's with Boone, I feel he'd hate her if he joined the Legion, and the NCR is the only other faction that would be able to spare this badass to go do some diplomacy.**

 **Jayden and Piper are just fun to write. I like how both of them have their own family and act as unofficial parents to Shaun and Nat, and Sarah and Alex. Just another OTP of mine.**

 **Ben and Cass may or may not happen. Tell me what you think in the reviews!**

 **Continue on.**

 _ **OH YEAH. 970 VIEWS? Christ. The favorites? God damn, I'm gonna have a heart attack. All the people following the story and me, just, thank you all. For the all the love to this piece of shit high school side thing I do. ONWARDS TO 1K VIEWS!**_

~PepoClap

* * *

Ben pulled the Varmint Rifle up, and cocked back the bolt. He squeezed the trigger and a 5.56 round tore the airways and embedded itself in the head of a Glowing One.

He took a step back. Cocked the rifle again and fire once more, killing another ghoul. The window burst open and this time, a sizeable amount of ghouls started making their way across the room towards him.

He took off, taking the steps in the stairwell two steps at at time. He opened the door and ran down the hallway. He jumped and slid across the makeshift guard post he'd made, consisting of three metal desks, several concrete blocks and bricks and mattresses tied together to create a cover for Cass and him to use.

He took in a breath and fired again. A ghoul dropped to the floor, blood spurting from it's neck stump. He let another round fly, another body hit the tile.

He threw his mag on the floor, and grabbed one from his plate carrier. He slid the magazine in it's slot and pulled back the bolt.

Then, bullets went flying, more ghouls fell. He was shocked however, that wasn't him. Cass had gotten up from the room where she was resting and fired the 10MM sidearm he'd left her.

He gripped the sling and slung the rifle over his shoulder. He looked at the Rose of Sharon Cassidy, "Damn, were you a Ranger?"

She let out a grunt, and ejected her current clip. She glanced at him and spoke, "Nope, I'm not loyal to either faction, but I owe everything to Six. If she's with the NCR, so am I. As for the skills, I've got a certain knack for 'em."

Ben grunted and opened the decayed oak door to their current haven. He tried the radio again, still didn't work and he wasn't sure where his squad was. What kind of leader was he? _One who didn't want to die honorably defending the Courier._ He shook his head, tried making up a reason, but his head kept coming back to a single word.

 _Coward, never could do anything right could you? Always living in the shadow of your perfect family. NCR Engineer as your father, successful trader for a mother and a brother who just wanted to defend his home. You? AWOL. Christ._

He lifted his head to find Cass staring back at him. She smirked, "Got some troubles buggin' you? Wouldn't be surprised, I saw all the booze you have stashed under the floor." After the snarky statement she gripped her stomach. She let out a groan.

Ben's face hardened, "Yeah, as if you haven't got any demons bothering you either, I saved you yet you wanna insult me?"

Cass locked back at him, "I would've died for her, you know that? I would've died for your men, yet you decided on living in this shithole of a world another day."

Ben looked down. Cass spoke the truth, he was a coward, wasn't he? NCR would say so. His family would. But he didn't want to die in foreign territory. He was supposed to be on leave, not on a suicide mission.

He got up from his seat and crouch. He pulled one of the tiles out of the floor and reached for a bottle of Bourbon. Wasn't his favorite, but it had some kick.

He took a swing, and let out a content sigh. "Take some of this." and he handed the bottle to the irritable Cass, who eyed the bottle before mumbling a, "Fuck it." and took a gulp.

* * *

Connor gripped his rifle tighter, he leaned over to look at the 'Sole Survivor' as he was called. A legend in the Commonwealth half of the Eastern Brotherhood, the Capital Wasteland's equivalent of the Lone Wanderer.

He was a Knight in his first high class OP, with the Sole Survivor sent to check out a crash Vertibird carrying a woman who was very important to the NCR.

He gazed out the window and he felt the tension of the mission seep into his body. Initiate Richard leaned over and tapped him, he slid his a pad.

He took it from his grasp and looked down. Photos of the crash. The vertibird was just a blob of black metal torn. Connor closed his eyes and gripped the side of seat.

The pilot spoke through the intercom, "Landing at the Washington Monument Outpost, Ad Victoriam."

The VTOL Craft hit the helipad, and they finally touched down. Connor let out a breath and grabbed his Laser Rifle.

He flicked the switch and slid in a Microfusion Cell, he leaned towards the Initiate and spoke, "Stay behind me, and for god's sake, don't go and try to act like a hero."

* * *

Alex gripped the photo and placed it back into the small ornate box. Something he'd manage to grab in the mess of leaving the vault. His mother's jewelry box. He used it to store his most prized possession. The picture of Sarah and his wedding. He felt the edges of the worn paper glare back at him, through the fine oak and into his head.

There was so many men he fought with, so many people he'd gone to war with. As their leader, and he got out unscathed, while he let so many of his brothers and sisters be slaughtered like pigs.

He took off the T-45 Helmet and started off to the Mess Hall. They had twenty more minutes before they had to load up in the Vertibird.

He stepped passed a Knight and went straight for the bar in the back.

Gob looked at him, "Look, I know that look. That's a dangerous idea you've got there. You can only push the pain away for a while, before it floods back."

Alex hissed, "Gob… Two bottles. Scotch."

The ghoul sighed and reached for the bottles on the shelf behind him. Alex's head screamed at him, _what was that? That's not you, and we both know that. Don't do it._ Alex rubbed his temples and let out a tiny groan.

Gob was already facing him and when Alex's eyes opened, his friend's eyes were full of pity. Alex gritted his teeth and took the bottles. "Thanks Gob, I… I know that. Nevermind."

He walked out of the wing and towards his room. He stopped taking small sips from the bottles and emptied the contents of each bottle into his mouth. He let out a burp. He felt fuzzy. _Good. Time to go kill. Get in the armor._

He swayed a little bit moving towards his Power Armor. _You aren't unstoppable. Two bottles and you start feeling the effects? Go get moooooorrrreee._

He took a step towards the kitchen. The floor and ceiling switched places. _Stop. Go. Get. More._ He shook his head, clearing his vision. He slammed his shoulder and the door to the kitchen flew open. He stumbled for a second, and caught himself on a counter. He moved towards the fridge and opened it. He reached for a beer.

He popped the cap off and chugged it. He reached for another and did the same.

* * *

Butch was on high alert. Alex had stepped in the Vertibird in Power Armor, but he had something wrong about him.

Butch gripped the steel shoulder of the Wanderer and stared into his visor. "You alright man? Something's off, I can feel it."

Alex's voice broke, squeaked and he cleared his throat. "Nah maN. AlL... good."

Before he could grill him, he heard several metal stomps behind the Saviour of the Wastes.

He sighed and he could see the blonde hair behind Alex. Two steel-clad arms slithered around the Wanderer's waist and a second later, the Elder's voice broke the silence.

"Didya miss me?" He had pulled the Sentinel to face her now, and she reached for the side of his helmet, meaning to unclip the locks keeping the helmet in place.

Alex shifted his weight and hefted his helmet off. It was Butch's time to fall silent. Alex stood drunk. Wearing a unreadable face on the verge of shattering. His eyes were glazed and he looked at his feet.

Sarah took a second to calculate this. Butch could feel the judging eyes of the Lyons' Pride staring at their backs, but Butch could care less. Why would Alex go and try to get wasted before a mission?

He didn't have to long to ponder this. Alex broke the silence and spoke, "Sarah. Look, I'm… i'm gonna go do this mission. Can we tal-"

Sarah gripped both of his shoulders and slammed him against the wall of the aircraft and she whispered in his ear. "Yeah. You go on this mission and I'm gonna _fuck_ you up."

Alex's drunken mind processed this. "I-Sarah. We have to save thes-"

Sarah cut him off and pushed him towards his seat. Her eyes blazed and a single hiss ripped through the air. " _Later._ "

Alex nearly choked himself to death with how fast he put on his helmet.

* * *

Cass could still hear shooting from Ground Zero. How long had it been since they abandoned? She turned to Ben, "I don't care if your with me or not. I'm gonna go save them."

Ben nodded, and reached for the 5.56 rifle lying on the desk next to him. He hefted his helmet onto his head and gave her a thumbs up.

Cass reached for her pistol with her right hand, and placed more pressure on her side wound with her left.

Ben grumbled and hefted her up. She kicked his armored chest but he persisted. "You wanna actual get there in time to do something helpful? Let me carry you."

She sighed and stopped.

* * *

Alex stared ahead and his blonde headed lover and sighed in his helmet. _What are you doing? Drinking yourself to death. How many did you have? "_ Not that many! I-"

He noticed he spoke aloud. Sarah's eyes snapped back onto his, with a blaze of fury. "You only had a few huh? Just a few. I know you are hurting. But, you won't let me do… anything. I'm your wife, your elder, your fellow soldier, yet you don't even consider how I feel. I care and drowning your pain in booze isn't going to help."

Alex shut up quickly. He was glad his visor was tinted, because if she saw him now. She'd know she'd hit him were it hurt.

But, Sarah didn't stop. "Would your Father want that?" Alex had stood up now. She'd gone to far now. "Don't. Please, don't."

Alex sat back down and stared out the window of the flying aircraft. He gripped his AER-9 and fiddled with the switch.

He wished that they hadn't brought a copilot for this mission, because Alex would've done anything to be in that cockpit right now.

* * *

 **Oh, yikes. Action is coming next, but I wanted to add in some tension between the lovely couple. Don't worry, I wouldn't break them up, but they aren't going to be completely smooth sailing. Not yet, atleast.**

 **Again, thanks for the love. All the favorites, the views, the love. Much appreciated.**


	6. Too Close For Comfort

Thank you to Berry! This was supposed to be something I'd release on Friday, but thanks to your review and the absolute love I've been getting, I'd figured why not wrap this one up.

In other news, Afterlife will be getting an update Friday now. Or Wendsday. Now go on and enjoy this one. And look for Elizabeth and Booker in the coming days. -Mr. Clap

 **Edit: Added some needed fixes to the chapter, sorry for publishing something that was previously eh. This should be much better. I'm also going to add some fixes to the previous chapters too. C1 first. I'm gonna try to push it to 4K words.**

* * *

Alex didn't feel the bullet go through his side, but he definitely felt it exit it through his left rib. The plating barely hung on, but Alex continued. He brought his Laser Rifle back up and shot three times at another mutant.

He lifted his Ripper and plunged it into a neck of a feral ghoul. He aimed his rifle and let another spray of red hit another ghoul in the chest. He pulled his Ripper out of the neck cavity and swung it at a Glowing One.

His armor didn't even look gray anymore, it was covered in bloody streaks of red and green. He took another bullet, .308 this time, embedded into his thigh. He merely let out a weak groan before shouldering on into the next horde.

None of the pain hurt as much as the looks Sarah would give him. Glances of hurt, sadness and a feeling he hated to see her in. Pain. So he threw himself into the battle, careless and bloodthirsty.

When the horde he massacred fell, he took a second to take a breath and look at his squad. Colvin was shaking his head and muttering something to himself, while Kodiak and Vargas were lifting two crates of weaponry.

His eyes behind the visor were bloodshot, but to them, a steel gray. Then he caught her. Sarah. She was helping Dusk stand to her feet. Her blue eyes scanned his visor before her face hardened.

He popped the locks on the side of his helmet and pulled it off. He trained his eyes at the ground before moving to his team. Butch grabbed his shoulder and spoke to him in a barely audible whisper. "How the fuck are you still standing?"

Alex shrugged him off and moved towards Sarah. His eyes widened as he felt something burn in his leg, then his knee. Then everywhere. He stumbled forwards and sat on a crate. He spoke, "God, how is already turning dark? I thought it was only one?"

Sarah spoke, "The sun is beating down on me, how-oh crap! MEDIC!" She quickly stepped over to him and clutched his hand. Alex's eyes opened. His eyes were glazed and laced with tears. She started tugging at his decimated armor, desperately wanting to take it off. Dusk shook Sarah and handed her a Fusion Knife. She gripped the rubber handle and pressed the button. The Laser Blade shot up, electricity crackling.

Alex's tired mind desperately wanted to find an explanation to what was going on. His body slammed pain into his body, withering his thoughts. "S-Sarah! Help me!"

His eyes rolled to the back of his head and his body slowly started to slow. Start to stop withstanding the pain. Sarah shouted and pulled at Alex. His eyes flew up and he coughed up blood.

"M-mom? I'm scared. I don't want to die."

Sarah let out a strangled sob, "No-no. You idiot! Stay with me! That's an order!"

Alex leaned forward and reached for the side of Sarah's face. "Sarah? God. Christ this hurts. I don't think... " He gasped for air this time. Struggling to get some oxygen in his system. He reached out and clawed the air.

Sarah was screaming inaudibly to someone, and Alex was struggling to keep his eyes open. He felt two pricks entire his side and he jolted up. It wasn't enough. Blood started trickling out the side of his mouth.

Alex's eyes opened once more and saw those blue orbs looking to his. Sarah pulled Alex's arm, "C'mon stay with me okay? There's help on the wa-"

Someone else stood in his view, lugging a bag. As he dozed, he could faintly hear what was going on. "I've got a Super Stimpak with me, three of 'em. Get him sitting, 'cause this will probably make hi-"

He could feel the needle enter his vein. He let out a screech of pain and his body spasmed with pain. He could feel the faint warmth of another hand holding his, but he couldn't open his eyes. Instead, his entire body focused on the crippling pain.

He coughed and heaved and fell forward. He grunted and rolled onto his back. His eyes finally cracked opened and he could see Sarah hovering over him, scanning his eyes.

He let out a weak smile and huffed out a, "Did I tell you look nice today? Didya do your hair?"

Sarah laughed aboved him and hauled him to his feet. She leaned in close and grabbed his collar. "Mind not dying one of these days? Not sure if you noticed, but I'm always worried."

Alex shifted awkwardly and embraced her. "Don't worry, Sarah. World owes me a couple more favors before I go."

* * *

When Ben finally set her down, they scanned the crash site for anyone. Ben sighed and looked over at her, "There's nothing here. Just some ghouls and muties."

Cass, with the support of Ben, scanned the interior of the crash. Ben was scanning one of the weapon racks above the seats when he heard a gasp from behind him.

He whipped around, Pistol in hand and he met Cass's eyes. He followed where he stare went and look at the mangled wall.

Two NCR troopers were impaled by the wall, the other had his chest torn open and his intestines had fallen to a seat, staining it acidic yellow.

Ben's heart dropped. Michaels and Podrich, both in their second tour and they ended up killed in the crash. Then eaten by ghouls? _God._

Cass was frozen and clung to a invisible person to her left. She cowered and screeched out, "Another _fucking_ one. I could've saved him! What the _fuck._ " Her voice faltered and took a nosedive.

Ben pulled her away and brought her head closer to his chest. She slammed her left hand into his side, but stopped her struggle. She broke into a sob and started to pull him out of the crash.

Her legs shook and she nearly fell to the floor, but Ben's arms caught her and they both sat on a long strip of metal. She buried her face in her hands and let herself go.

Ben heard her mutter something to herself and he tried to pinpoint her words. "Raul. Rex. Boone. Alice… god. Damn it! Veronica! Her voice shattered and Ben wrapped his arms around her slim frame.

She buried her face into his combat armor and he kept her in the embrace of his arms. He brought himself back to the present, not allowing his mind to piece the pieces of the horror they'd witnessed.

He heard a crack, and light followed. A red flare was smoking in the sky. He patted Cass's back and gently tugged her shoulder to face the sky. "Look. They're out there. They aren't dead. We'll… be alright."

Cass stood to her feet, pain following suit. She stumbled, and caught herself. She leaned on Ben and they both started their trek.

* * *

Connor had walked up to the crash and muttered to himself. "Where are the muties?" His partner, the initiate walked up to a small box and hefted it up. He started fiddling with it, and tossed it in the air.

Initiate Richards looked at the crash, looked at the box and nearly _fainted_. "Fuck me."

Connor had turned around and Richards yelled out, "I've got the Black Box!"

Connor tore the box from his grasp and inspected it. "Alright, rook. Good job." He stepped towards their 'bird and slid it into his bag. He felt better knowing, he'd have it, than have it in the storage boxes.

He started his trek back. He passed three Knights loading various scraps of the Vertibird into the aircraft. He smelt the gunpowder before he took any impacts.

He felt four .22 bullets hit his armor and bounce off. He quickly turned back around and started running towards the VTOL craft. Jayden was already on board, and firing at the ambushers. Several Brotherhood soldiers had managed to scramble inside. One of them tossed him their Laser Rifle and a field pack. He caught both and stared at his C.O.

Jayden locked eyes with him and gave him a look. The wheels of the 'bird tucked themselves in and the rotors spun and in a span of thirty seconds, his only means of escape was gone.

More bullets flew and he got hit by a .308 round. He let out a cough and jumped into the nearest trench.

He hefted his Laser Rifle up to find his brothers running for cover. He fired and scanned the crowd of soldiers running in different directions. A single soldier was running towards him.

He glanced around the figure and saw a rocket propelling itself towards him. It hit the floor a mere three feet away from him, taking him off his feet and landing him at the bottom of the trench.

He hefted Richards to his feet and gave him his 10MM Submachine Gun and they both lay rounds into the mutants. As he got ready to launch another volley of burning particles, two rockets embedded themselves into the back of the trench.

The world slowed and the dirt thrown on him peppered his armor and as he glanced back, a rock dislodged itself from the explosion and slammed into his helmet. His visor caved and was on the brink of breaking and taking out his eyes.

Richards was covered in various cuts from shrapnel, but his combat armor had taken the hit. He was farther from the impact spot, so he was spared the main hit. He got up from his crouched position and trudged his way to Connor.

Connor was also trapped in his armor. The back of his T-45 was scorched, and the fusion cell had been melted through. The steel hull kept him from cooking, and dying from the blast, but now he was trapped inside.

With no power, he was left lying on the floor, unable to move his joints.

* * *

Boone looked over at the "Lyons Pride" as they called themselves. They were arrogant, but they had the skills to back it up. He could observe they all cared for each other, probably die for each other, no questions asked.

Then. Their leader, Sarah and her second in command. Alex. A interesting relationship. They were drowning in love, but they all had their demons. Alex seemed to suffer from the most.

Alice had gripped his hand, snapping him out of his thoughts. "You alright?" Boone of course, nodded.

He was fine. But watching the Sentinel wither on the mud caked concrete floor, two steps from death. That had gotten hit close to him.

Watching his wife was worse. He was so helpless. He was a sniper. A great one, but not a medic. So he had to watch Alice slowly bring the poor man back to life.

Sarah's face was easily readable, covered in pain. He knew her look. Her mood, her emotion. When the Legion had tried to sell her.

God. Pathetic. _She was everything to you but you couldn't help her when she needed you the most. Failure. Too good of a label for you, it shoulda been you, you dirty bastard._ Even worse, his thoughts were spoken to him in the voice of his past lover. "C-c...a." He cut himself off before he said _her_ name. If he said her name, he'd break. _Best sniper world's got to offer, but you didn't take your leave and go back to California did you? You made her, and your baby girl stay in Vegas. No money, and no friends. What did you think would happen? Huh?_

"Carla… I didn't." His voice was low and hard to hear, and anyone not paying attention to him wouldn't hear anything.

But she heard.

Yes. Yes, she did.


	7. Ad Victoriam, Muties

**Woah. Sorry for the wait. But I've got you a huge chapter. 4k words of what I'd say is my best work. First things first, thanks for all the love. All the views, favorites and such. Those are great. I'm sorry this took so long, but I'm a procrastinating freshman, so I don't have much free time. I promised a chapter last week, but I figured a wayyyy better chapter was better than the 1.7k chapter I had.**

 **Also, Afterlife is completed. So read that. It's good. But I am sorry to say that I will be remastering those chapters. Meaning they'll be brought up to atleast 3k words, which is good for readers of that story, but bad for you guys here. That means that the next chapter will probably be delayed. Probably. But I mean, I wrote this in an hour, so maybe I'll whip something else up.**

 **Hope you like enjoy, ~PepoClap**

 **Oh yeah, as always, i've got no beta, and don't really want one. So, it's me that's going to be reviewing the chapters for mistakes, which means i'm gonna miss stuff, and it wont be perfect. I mean, I wrote this in an hour, so there is stuff that is going to be wrong. But i'll iron this stuff out soon enough.**

* * *

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The Vertibird simply couldn't withstand all the bullets simultaneously slamming themselves into the steel hull. Slowly chipping away, slowly burying themselves in technology, fragile and to be handled with care.

Jayden felt his body fly up, with no weight. In the split second he had, as the Vertibird soared, he spent glancing at the team he'd left behind. Connor was in the trenches, firing away. Many more of his Brothers lay wounded, some cowering in fear. Some trying to continue the fight. But they had to get away from the battle.

Something even he couldn't do. His body slammed against the back wall of the cabin, he felt his Power Armor groan in pain, and slowly tear the metal behind him. The Vertibird, burning and slowly losing altitude had to make a emergency landing.

Jayden held onto a chair, as he felt the bird slowly tear it's way on the top of a rooftop. Slowly searing the exterior hull, to a bitter crisp.

Jayden hit his head again, on the chair. He groaned, and he opened his eyes. His HUD told him he had 80 percent of his health left. That was good. His vision lit up with the callsigns of his team members.

He turned around and reached for the radio system. His shaking hands gripped the side of the aluminum base and he quickly grasped the side of the device for the transmitter. His sweating, gloved hands fumbled with the device before he shrieked for backup.

He turned and reached for the nearest weapon next to him. He checked the clip of Remington 700 and slammed it back in. He gripped the handguard, glancing around the slightly dinged up cabin interior.

His mind drifted off.

The Lyons' Pride was currently deployed at the White House, his team was on Ground Zero. He'd have to make his crew last long enough for the backup to arrive.

The thing was, they were usually the backup.

* * *

Alice had shrunk within herself. The mention of Boone's former wife still haunted her. It made her realize that despite everything she fought to achieve. To change the world, she couldn't have a perfect ending with a perfect man.

No. She'd didn't. But, sometimes she felt sort of relived that Carla had died. Boone was broken, and would show signs of wear and tear. But he was hers. And she desperately fought to scrub away the imperfections of their relationship and let herself believe lies.

 _We are perfect. The NCR's poster child of a relationship gone right. Two soldiers, who eventually found each other, and live their lives to the fullest. Shooting legionnaires, and protecting dams._

A lie she loved to hold dear to her heart. As a wanderer from Montana, she spent her entire life with very little contact with others. An already some population before the war, but now in a post war apocalypse? No. She hadn't known many others.

But when she wandered into the Mojave. Things changed. She loved speaking to people. Something she never had the chance to do back home.

Her mother and her father, plus her brother. The only three people she knew. Now? So many people, her head spinned.

But all she wanted to do, was live her life happy. Something the world decided. That no, that was to big of an ask.

Boone stopped and grabbed her hand. He flashed her a rare smile, but Alice stared passed him and towards the young couple in front of them.

Alex had snuck up behind Sarah, who was currently sifting through a crate with Dusk. They both had been packing up weapons into several crates, so they could load up and go back to the Citadel.

Alex quickly dashed and hefted Sarah onto his shoulders. Sarah gasped and her face quickly turned a fierce shade of red.

"Put me down! That's an order!" She screeched out, but Alex wasn't having any of it. "What do you say Sarah?"

She playfully smacked his shoulder, but Alex shook his head. "Nope, violence isn't it. Try again, you nearly got it."

She sighed and whispered out, "Please?" Alex smirked, he started to let he moved from his iron grasp, but at the last second pulled her back into his grasp. "Sorry, I couldn't hear you."

She threw her entire weight at him and he stumbled, tried to regain his balance, but eventually both of them tumbled to the floor in a laughing heap.

Alice stared blankly at the both of them. How could they be so smitten with love that they just didn't care about anything else? Why did she have to endure the pain of remembering that she wasn't living the life she so desperately wanted?

Even more, why did she want that? To live a life that hadn't be around since pre-war times? All she wanted to do was explore the world, then lay down roots and be a happy family

Sometimes she didn't know what Boone wanted. Sometimes she'd dream of him leaving her, stranding her in the Capital Wasteland with absolutely nobody else. Save for maybe those two in front of her.

That was the worst part, she was _so… broken_. She let out a choked laugh into the silent march to the Vertibird. Boone stared at the woman before him, glancing at her eyes. She gazed back at him, her green eyes glazed with years of hurt.

Alice spoke, "I'm not much of a talker, but you want me? What the _fuck._ " Boone's face went through a ray of emotions, before settling to a face beaming of warmth. "Yeah, you aren't. But I don't like to talk either, I guess we are perfect for each other, aren't we?" Boone whispered.

With that, she intertwined her slender fingers, covered in blood and slightly bent, with Boone's. She looked up to him, "Let go fuck up some ghouls."

* * *

The first thing he noticed was that it was _hot._ The other thing was that he was bleeding, profusely. Then his senses kicked into overdrive, and an overwhelming sense of panic swelled in his chest, threatening to burst.

But then he felt pressure on his back. A swift tug, and he heard a loud pop as air rushed into his melted suit. He sucked in a shallow breath and tried to move his arms. Still nothing. But now sunlight streamed into the edges of his vision.

Then the sounds of bullet hailing around him and screams sounding out, perked up his body. He struggled to move out of the metal coffin, but he just couldn't. He tried another breath. His ears were still ringing and the sounds of the battlefield above just pounded his head.

Everything slammed back into place a moment later, and he could now vividly hear the screaming. Of someone. Behind him.

"Are you with me? Connor! Alright, brace yourself." Someone sounded above him. Oh yeah, Richards.

He didn't get a chance to squeeze another thought before the pain pierced his mind. He screamed into his shattered visor. He distinctly felt something leaving his body. He bit down on his lower lip, but the pain didn't numb.

His head slumped against the rock that destroyed his visor, and started to doze off. Yeah, that's what he'd do. Just rest against the gray pillow, and…

He was pulled out of the suit violently, and his world flipped upside down. He caught his breath, and faced the sky, were the floor once was. He shook his head, and the world was picked up it's pieces and put themselves back in place.

When he opened his eyes, he could see the Initiate's eyes looking over his body, covered in blood and bandages. They locked eyes and Connor could see the terrified look in his eyes. Richards pulled him to his feet, and shoved a Laser Rifle into his grasp. He glanced down at his AER-9, the tubing on the underside of the grip was torn cleanly off, and his stock was blown to bits.

He gripped what was essentially a Laser SMG, and gazed at the battle above him.

* * *

Jayden stared at the melting pot under him. Bite sized figures ran across the burning trenches, some fired. Some fell. Another glance and he could make out the taller, more muscular green mutants marching forward. Falling, getting torn to shred.

Unless one side got some more support, they'd all be killed in action. His knuckles were painted white as he gripped the concrete railing. People around him were grabbing scopes, or shooting from their high position.

They were going to get overrun, that was guarantee. There was stomping that shook the very foundation of the building. Smaller, quicker thuds sounded below him. Yes, they were going to make their final stand here, but he was going to make sure that if he was to go down. He'd take down every single emerald monster that decided to walk up the stairs.

He grasped the rifle off his back and into his hands, several men were pulling ordinance from the stranded aircraft. More people were setting up fortifications. He took a quick glance down at the scene unfolding at Ground Zero before turning to his men.

"Our brothers will fight tooth and nail down below. But we can't give them anymore support. Not yet. We first got to melt the incoming. Strap in, and aim at those stairs. Ad Victoriam."

With that, Jayden cocked back the bolt of the Hunting Rifle in his hands. "Let's leave this hotel covered in green blood gentlemen."

* * *

Richards gripped the torn, wooden side of the trench, hefting himself up, so that his upper body was the only thing visible. He fired away, turning countless mutants to dust. For everyone he dropped, the more barbaric they became. Disregarding their own lives and simply pushing the Brotherhood members with a intensity that he'd never seen before. A emerald body flew through the air, just missing his right arm and slammed into the bottom of the trench.

He turned around, aiming down his dirt stained ironsights, finger on the trigger of the 10MM Submachine gun. He tugged the metal trigger, let a spray tear through the barrel of his gun. He saw the first bullet come out of the barrel in slow motion. He shifted, ready for his target to move, and he was right about that.

The mutant did move, with a sluggish move, he rolled over and tried charging towards the inexperience soldier, but he never got the chance to. A bullet sounded, louder and more menacing tore the air around him quicker than his inferior bullet. It buried itself into the skull of the mutant, spraying the trench vivid red.

He glanced around, and that's when the world went back to full speed. The familiar chopping of the air above him sounded out. Then, the crackle of a the intercom he knew to well.

"Goodnight mutie bastards! Any last words? Oh wait, can't hear you over the screams!" the taunting voice sounded around his body, filling his body with the swagger of the Brotherhood. He glanced at the jet black Vertibird above him, his eyes grazed the underside, reading the white letters decorating it.

"Ophanim." He grinned, and pulled himself out the trench. It their turn to give the muties a taste of their own venom. With one hand gripping the pistol grip, and the other reaching for his M9-Bayonet. He sprinted towards a Feral Reaver, and stabbed his kneecap, bringing him to the floor.

He peered into the clouded eyes of the zombie, before slamming his foot into its head. He stared down the sights of his gun this time. A quick pull, and the mutant in front of him, trying to reload, was filled with it's daily dose of lead.

A mutant and ghoul both tried rushing him. He managed a quick swipe at the larger opponent, ripping his bicep open, before side stepping and rolling. His combat armor grazed the floor, and in a instant he was back up, on the balls of his feet.

A quick one-two step and the knife was inside the eyes of the ghoul. He dodged a heavy fist, and whipped out his SMG. He pulled the trigger, but only three bullets came out. They imbedded themselves into the inviting body before them, but the staggering mutant infront of him was still standing.

This time, he didn't move fast enough. A fist slammed into his chest plating and nearly knocked him over. He slid back two feet from the impact, but he quickly recovered. Before he got to make a move, the mutant fell over, it's head replaced by cold air.

Connor blew the hot steam coming from the barrel of the Laser SMG. He grinned, before tossing Richards a M1911.

He caught it, cocked the slide back and moved forward with his fireteam partner.

* * *

Alex reloaded the Barrett 50. Cal in his hands and slid it back into it's resting slot on the wall of the cabin. He reached for his Laser Rifle, unclipped the metal locks and stood up. He made a move to grab his helmet, but Sarah cut him off.

"Listen, the drinking. It's been on my mind. I'm sorry for tearing into you, but you've got to understand how _I'm_ feeling. I hate seeing you rely on something else for support. I've got you, alright? That's what you promised me. That you'd let me shoulder some of your responsibility. Let me do that for you. Okay?" Sarah tugged Alex's shoulder, and his hazel eyes snapped up from their gazing spot on the floor and peered into her blue orbs.

He stood there, stoic, but his face changed. A confusing mess of changing gazes, before settling into a single expression. Acceptance, or was it happiness? At this point, Sarah didn't care.

But what did surprise her, was his reaction. He wrapped his metalliac arms around her steel chest and pulled her as close as their armors would let them. She mentally cursed the armor for not letting them get closer together, but she content enough right now.

Alex shook her body lightly, forcing her to meet his stare. She didn't know what she was expecting, for him to shut her out, or for him to completely break down. Instead, his lips parted and he spoke, " _God._ What did I ever do to deserve you?"

Sarah smiled back at him, "You saved me more times than I can count. How'd _I_ ever deserve a guardian angel?"

Alex pulled her into a intimate kiss. A moan from Sarah, and a throat clearing from… _Butch._ He pulled away, and realized that they were in the crowded Aircraft, ready to help the stranded Vertibird. His face dunked itself into a vat of red, and Sarah looked confused for a second before she turned around.

Her eyes met everyone's in the interior. Butch broke the silence. "God, I will never be able to bleach the event I just witnessed. You guys make me _sick._ "

Alex laughed, and the rest of the Pride joined him. The Vertibird shook slightly, Alex immediately perked up, and quickly moved to the cockpit. "Colvin? Are we alright? Let me co-pilot."

He stepped inside, his nose being hit with a scent. "Oh _fuck._ Their copilot was strapped into the seat, his neck torn in half with a bullet the size of his hand. He turned around and screamed at the people in the interior. "Get ready for immediate drop! Our co-pilot is down! Alice!"

He swiftly turned around when the glass exploded, his armor getting jabbed with tiny shards of the translucent barrier. Colvin screamed and fell out of his chair, he was clutching his left arm. Alex hefted him out of the cramped room and reached for the Yoke and maneuvered them so that they didn't crash into the gray building. With his left hand, he quickly grabbed the side stick and pulled the throttle forwards.

He slammed the button on autopilot and grabbed the dead body to his right, and pulled him out of the chair and into the cabin.

Alice was standing over Colvin, who was coughing and groaned from the unforgiving floor. She was pulling various syringes and gauzes from her bag and sighed. Boone swiftly moved from his seat, and grabbed his Remington 700 VTS, he quickly moved to the opening ramp and gripped the overhead railing.

Sarah was the first to drop, her helmet was on and her rifle in her grasp. She jumped the nine feet gap, and slammed her feet into the grime covered concrete floor. A shockwave shuttered the debris around her.

She flicked the switch of the Laser Rifle and shot a beam into the disfigured face of the mutant. He screeched for a full second before his face gave out, and fell to the floor, in clumps of red and green.

A mutant sidestepped her second burst, and tried rushing her postition next to a crate. She quickly pressed a button on her receiver and a Laser Bayonet erupted, the blue electricity crackled, before she slammed it into the torso of a now screaming mutant. She didn't stop there, she continued pulled upwards, tearing through his abdomen and finishing by ripping apart his left pectoral.

The body hit the floor with a thud, and then blood leaked out from the underside of the dismembered corpse.

She turned around, and fired point blank into a mutant, turning him into a pile of green dust. With a quick sidestep, she only took a slight graze of the oversized fist that tried to hit her left shoulder. She brought her knee up, into the crotch of the unfortunate FEV monster.

He groaned, and she slammed her fingers into the vulnerable flesh of the mutie's neck. She swiftly tugged out his windpipe and it hit the floor with a splat, before she slammed his head with a burst of blue light.

Alex turned around and moved the Vertibird closer to the building. Now, there was no gap for them to jump across, merely a twenty feet drop, something that was child's play for their Power Armor.

He hated not being on the ground, going toe to toe with a mutant, but here he was. Stuck inside of the cockpit, being the pilot, when he could very well do his job of Field Commander, or Medic. He pulled to the left, and the .50 bullet missed the hull of the VTOL craft.

Vargas was already manning the Laser turret and was raining down red beams of death onto the opposition. He let out a laugh, before getting up and reaching for a Laser Rifle. Then, he too jumped.

Now it was just him, Colvin, Alice, and… Boone? He turned around to see Boone staring at him, from the threshold between the two parts of the aircraft. He spoke, "Let me man the aircraft. Get on the ground floor. Just shoot a mutie between the eyes for me."

He tersely nodded, and broke into a sprint. His right foot grazed the metal ramp before he jumped. His vision slowed down and he scanned the fight for Sarah. He saw her spraying her Laser Rifle, letting her modified receiver shoot out blue beams of electricity.

A mutant was caught in his gaze. "Goodnight bastard." He whispered into the space in his helmet, as his vision sped up, his feet slammed themselves into the side of the mutant's head. As his entire weight slammed into his neck, his head exploded, staining his legs with the blood of the FEV mutant.

He quickly turned around and jabbed his Laser Bayonet into the shoulder of a shocked mutant, he swiftly tugged downwards, and the scream of the person in front of him was deafening. The right arm fell out of it's socket, and slammed into the concrete floor, embedding itself into the broken floor.

He fired into the flesh protecting his heart, and the mutant dropped quicker than would be expected of a goliath of a monster that size. It hit the floor, creating its own shockwave, which he could feel shake his shins.

He fired into the head of another mutant, taking it cleanly off, then that beam tore through a neck of unsuspecting mutant. Alex let out a light laugh, "Take that, _biatch!_ "

He popped out the spent microfusion cell, replacing it with another, shaking with energy. It shook his rifle, before settling into a hum of power coursing through, "Archangel."

He pulled the trigger three times, and three mutants hit the floor. He slid over a crate, and planted his rifle bayonet into the kneecap of a mutant. He fell, and Alex took advantage. He quickly scrambled onto his back and slammed his bayonet into the back of the mutant's head. He shoved it forward, and it went through the brain and came out through his forehead.

Alex stood up, and fire twice at a wounded mutant. He brushed his left arm and gazed at the rest of his team. Sarah threw a fist into a mutant's nose, breaking it, no, _decimating_ it. Dusk fired a Barrett .50 Cal, point blank, with one hand. The her other hand was gripping her Laser Knife which she threw into the skull of another mutant.

Vargas was firing away, turning bodies to dusk quicker than Alex could react. Jayden was firing away from a crate, tearing through three mutants with one shot. His eyes landed on Gallows next, who held two Rippers, one in each hand, and slammed them into each side of a poor mutant's head.

Alex felt a jab hit his chest, and the Mutant leader threw a left hook. This connected, harder this time. His head spun, his rifle flew from his hands and towards Jayden's position.

Alex rolled backwards and brought up his fists. His helmet was broken now, and another hook with break it into pieces. Alex was faster, slimmer, but possessed less power than the towering 8 mutant of pure muscle.

Alex, seven foot, three in his T-45F Power Armor, swiftly jogged forward. He swiftly dodged the reaction jab from the Commander, and threw a uppercut, connecting with a chin. He felt the mutant's head snap upwards, and Alex quickly retreaded. The mutant charged, and Alex was already a step ahead. He jumped onto a wooden crate, which quickly groaned in opposition to the weight that was quickly placed onto it.

Alex was in the air, and he brought his right arm down, slamming into the neck of the mutant, but right after, before he hit the floor, connected with his left hood, both forces hit the mutant at almost the same time.

The Commander's neck was completely shattered, nothing was supporting his head, so it just slumped over, and hung limply in the air, before the body hit the floor.

Alex caught his breath, and realized his helmet was no longer on his head. He swiftly moved towards his rifle, and looked at the aftermath of the battle.

Everyone was reloading and checking the bodies. Some men were injured, but nobody had died. Jayden had tossed him his rifle back. Jayden turned to face his commander. "Thanks for the assist, Sentinel. I've got the VIP, and the black box inside our bird. Ready for you when you are."

Alex nodded, "Give me a second, I need to do something." Jayden nodded and put his helmet back on, and Alex could faintly hear a name escape from Jayden's body as he walked away from him. _Piper._

Alex's thoughts snapped to Sarah. He glanced over, and tried to find her, but he couldn't see her in the horde of Brotherhood soldiers. His eyes moved over and stared at the commander's corpse, where Sarah was standing over him.

Alex walked towards her. She took off her helmet. "God. That was thrilling. But look at what he had. What is this?"

Alex looked at the card in Sarah's palm. He gently grasped it from her, and gazed at it. He spoke aloud, his voice hitting the cold air of September.

 **"What the _hell_ is a New York?"**


	8. Breather?

I suppose I owe you guys an explanation. Well, my grandpa recently passed and that cut my interests in writing down. Plus High School really slams you with work, I mean, of course. But still. I'm doing good and haven't had much time to write. But if you did miss my work, I did publish, "Danger Close." A L4D2 a week or so ago. I think. I didn't recently write it, it was saved, but I hope it tied you over for a bit.

As for Berry! Thanks for the review on Blessings! A Halloween based chapter is comin'! Don't worry, it'll be nice and fluffy. As for this chapter, the first half I wrote two weeks ago. It's not that great, but I have recently wrote the second half. That I think is better, but I'll fix up the first half. Or who knows, you guys might enjoy it.

Anyways, I'm back.

Oh, and Sarah and Alex's kid is now named, Ally. Her nickname will be Berry, for my first reviewer. Thanks man.

 **FIXED SOME ERRORS - STILL SOME MORE, I THINK (10/9/18)**

* * *

The Vertibird's wheels touched the cracked concrete, the pressure slowly being brought back onto the drab grey floor. The sleek black hull cracked open, revealing the crew inside.

Alex's feet hit the floor, and he swiftly started making his way to the West Wing. He couldn't let himself be caught by Sarah. He took a swift glance, and he saw the dirty blonde hair in the split second he looked. He held his breath and prayed to whatever pre-war gods were out there, to divert Sarah's attention.

A swift sidestep, and he was now in a crowd of moving people, all dispersing in different directions. He reached out with his right hand, to grip the steel door meaning to pull the door open and slip inside when he was stopped by movement in his peripheral vision.

A split second later, and a hand slipped over his. Slender, porcelain fingers gripped two of his calloused hands. She jerked his body to face her, and his eyes melted into Sarah's ocean blue orbs.

Her face showed concern, and tucked away, at the very end of that river flowing in her eyes was something else. Alex's mind raced, his face gave him away, facade falling. In the split second as he watched in horror as Sarah shook her head slightly as he slowly slipped from his confident form into a shell.

 _What is going on?_ He felt as his face slowly fell, his fake smile slowly turning downwards, his eyes snapped to the floor to watch his invisible poker face crash against the broken concrete. _What am I dreading?_

"What are you thinking?" Sarah's face was scanning his now vulnerable form. The words sounded in his head, as his mind was shaking with fear. His eyes slowly brought themselves to look her in the face.

His eyebrows furrowed and he gazed at her lower lip, desperately trying to come up with something to say. He took a single step back, and Sarah gripped the collar of his Power Armor. She cupped his chin and pulled his face to look her directly in her eyes.

"Look at me. _Alex._ " He had no choice but to stare at her now. He didn't even realize he was a second away from bursting into tears. His chest was heaving as if he just ran a marathon, and his heart was slamming against his ribs. He choked out a flutter of words, garbled up by the breaking of his voice, and the speed at which they were spoken.

She squeezed his hand, and everything in his body shattered. "S-Sarah. I… I nee- no… no. Are you gonna?" His voice faltered, and it was down to a hoarse whisper. Sarah's face immediately scrunched up at the words.

" _Are you gonna leave me?"_

It was Sarah's turn to delve into her mind, but she managed to throw a left hook, catching her mind of balance. _No backing away now, Sarah._

"Why would you ask me that? I'd never even dream of it. We are in this together, remember? Me and you, we've got to be there for Ally, and you know that." Sarah fired back in an instant. _Great, he asks a question, and you fire back violently. What happened to helping him get past his demons, Sarah? Huh? Why pile on to all the fucked up shit he's seen in his short stunt in the wastes?_

Alex's stared back, blankly at her. He nodded once, and then closed his eyes. When he opened them, his poker face was back. _Or is it real? Is he always faking his happiness or can you not let the man enjoy his time, Sarah?_

He opened the door gently. As Sarah walked ahead, his fingers gripped the door handle for a second longer than what was normal, and as his fingers pulled off, he could feel his fingertips reach and graze the door. As if wanting for him to leave.

He shook his head. _Focus, focus. Time to talk to Ally. Me and Sarah are alright._

* * *

Jayden tossed another ammo crate into the back of the truck, and wiped his head. His palm was glazed with sweat and dirt. He had much respect for the duo of the Capital Wasteland. They saved his life more than he could count.

But why the hell did they get to take off and go talk to their kid, _who was with Piper_? The woman he wanted to see the most. Unfortunate he supposed, but they way they looked at each other was unsettling. Piper and he had gotten along very well. Maturing at rates that the younger couple had not.

He knew that look in Alex's eyes though. Bloodlust to the maximum. He supposed those were mirrors of his own when he had found Kellogg. He blood pressure rose a slight bit at the mention of his wife's killer.

 _Nora, do… have yo-_

"Cut it out, just.-" He took a deep breath, his mind burning with thoughts was stifled. "We are good." He muttered out, initiates walking past, completely oblivious as to what he just went through.

He sighed, and sat down on a munitions crate. The label read, "5.56." He tapped his fingers against the wood absentmindedly. Someone plopped down next to him, a light thud ripping through the air like the hiss of a snake.

 _A Tunnel Snake._

Butch turned to the older man, who seemed to be in his thoughts. _Girl problems, probably._ He let out a soft chuckle, before pulling out his pack of cigarettes. He grabbed two, and tapped the Sentinel, "You look like you need this." Jayden looked at him, pondering, gears in his mind contemplating the offer. He reached out and grabbed it from his grasp.

Butch nodded, and flipped open his gold plated lighter. A small flame erupted, and they both lit their cancer sticks.

Jayden took a drag, before he stood up, walking towards the driver of the truck and letting out a puff of smoke. "Shipment to Fort Independence is ready." With a terse nod, the Brotherhood Knight tapped his door and the truck started to move out of the Shipping Bay.

* * *

Connor gazed at the duo before him, covered in soot and grime, claiming to be from the White House crash. He doubted it, as they had recently extracted the survivors. Nonetheless, they donned NCR gear. So they had to have at least been at the crash site.

Richards sat to his right, the ramp of the Vertibird open, the breeze passing into the VTOL craft. Pederson was manning the Laser Turret on the ramp, and scanned over the drab buildings. Covered in a green haze.

Connor's comms lit up, Citadel transmission. He pulled on his Heavy Combat helmet, the HUD lighting up on his screen. He tapped a button on his left wrist, accepting the transmission. "Sarah, what's the issue?"

The blonde haired Elder seemed a little flustered, and anxious. Her features were glossed in a single emotion, _uncertainty._ "No time to stop here to resupply and to drop off the injured, we need you to head to Fort Constantine. All of our comms with them have gone down, last report we received was three hours ago. Laser Rifles, Dozen types of ARs and at least one stealth unit. We need to find out what happened there. I hope that isn't were the mutants are. No info on their leader yet. Lyons out."

Connor tossed his helmet onto the floor, the metal clanging in the now silent cabin. He grasped his face with his hands, which were now dosed in sweat. "Fuck! We don't get enough… _anything_ for this!"

He reached for a FN SCAR-L on the weapons rack behind him, and stood up. "Command just told us to go save Fort Constantine's asses. No rest for the weary."

Richards fired, his AKM tearing the Talon Company mercs to shreds. The Vertibird soared, and quickly dipped to miss a rocket. Richards stumbled and hit the seat next to him. He steadied himself and fired, bullets flying out of the chamber at breakneck speed.

He crouched, and used the seat as support. The bullet swarm from the people below them was getting more and more accurate each run they made. A bullet flew passed his head, and shattered the window, glass raining on the cramped cabin. The injured were placed close to the Cockpit, and the soldiers who could fight were at the ramp, firing away.

A burst of four rounds hit the metal of the ramp and increased his anxiety. _They are zeroing in on us. Fuck!_ He turned to Connor, who was firing from his SCAR. "We need to let some of us on the ground. 'Else all of us are gonna be dead inside of the crash."

Connor turned, his face scrunched. "You see how much of 'em are out there? Half a fuckton! We drop some of our men, and we get overrun. We aren't inside the Fort, and to be honest, I have no idea how we get in there."

Richards drew up a plan of attack, his mind putting the tactics into images, burning themselves into his frontal lobe. "Look, we fire our rockets at the ground there, and we use the craters as makeshift trenches!" He pointed with his left hand, and his index finger nearly got taken off by a 7.62 bullet. He pulled his hand back, and ducked, a spray hitting the air where he once was.

Connor sighed, and shouted incoherently into his helmet, and the velocity of the missles shook the aircraft. A drastic explosion tore his eardrums to shreds. Connor shook his head, ringing still firing away in his ears. "Throw the rope and get some people to go with you!"

A spray hit the tail rotor, causing it to bend, slowing down the pace it was turning at. "Losing control here! Fire at them before they get us!" The pilot shouted from the discarded helmet lying on the chair next to him. A bullet caused his entire world to stop. His arm dropped, lowering his gun. He gazed ahead, the landing team was roping down. Pederson was firing in slow motion, as if his body and turret were encased in a jar of molasses.

It buried itself into the head of Knight-Captain Jonathan. The blood sprayed into his eyes, covering his entire face. Metallic, coppery blood poured itself into the gaping mouth of Connor. The weapon flew out of Jonathan's grasp, striking Knight Dunn square in the back. The M416 hit the floor, the plastic stock breaking a tiny bit. A corner shattered to bits. The body of his Protege hit his chest.

The stump where his head once was spurted blood into his already drenched face. His hair getting a shower of blood. He reached out, dropping his rifle, and held the body by his armpits. The weight of the foreign object causing his arms to quiver.

He gazed through the blood, at someone in his command. Someone he was supposed to protect. Now he was holding the unidentifiable body in his arms. His legs began to gave out, either from the weight or the fear, Connor didn't care. In a blink of an eye, the full speed of the battle returned, and the body collapsed on top of him.

He let out an air piercing scream as the right engine got impaled by a .50 Caliber bullet. The sound of the Anti Materiel Rifle shouting into his already petrified head. The Vertibird went into a freefall, the body flying off of him and hitting the ceiling. Blood didn't stop falling. Connor didn't stop screaming. Blood continued to familiarize itself with his face.

Several thuds as his men hit the walls, and Connor himself knew he was not going to be fine for very much longer.

But they didn't hit the ground, their lives didn't end in a fiery explosion, their bodies melted beyond any identification, mucus and blood slathering themselves in the space of the cabin. Instead, the Pilot had managed to pull up, flying close to the ground, but enough for them to slow down.

A swift turn to the right, and he was flung across the cabin, his unprotected face slamming into the matte black wall. His nose twisted, and the audible snap registered before any of the pain did. In the split second he had to think, his mind was blank. The vision of his squadmate getting decimated still burning in his mind.

He didn't have much more time to ponder.

The rest of his body decided to pay the metal wall a visit. Both kneecaps lunging for the embrace of the inviting barrier, slamming themselves with no remorse, no regret. He tried bringing up his right hand, to stop the rest of his body from slamming into the wall at full velocity, but only his middle and index finger grazed the wall.

His chest flew forward, and the two fingers snapped backwards, with no difficulty. He groaned, and as the Vertibird steadied itself, he fell onto the chairs. His back got a warm reception for the armrests.

* * *

Richards realized that seven men, and a bright, but inexperienced Initiate leading the ground battle was not a good idea. Especially when his air support got gunned down, leaving him with a armful of long arms. M16s, a SCAR, two FALs, his AK, and a Laser Rifle. They also had medium Combat Armor, decent plating to stop some shots. But if a whole hail of bullets hit them, they'd hit the floor faster than the Vertibird behind he was going to.

He also had in his command several grenades. A handful of Pulses, and a small crate of Frags. He had a single medic, and a weapon's specialist. Well, he had no complex weapons under his command, so his vast experience was overlooked and wasted. A shame, but he had no time to complain about his current arrangement.

He lifted his head over the mound of kicked up dirt, and fired three shots, two hitting it's target. The other veering off, and hitting their sandbags. He hit the deck when their returning volley sounded out, piercing his thoughts. He opened his eyes into the staring ones of Initiate Pederson. "Got a clip? I'm out!" He spoke, his words hurried and with a slight slur.

Richards nodded, and tossed him a clip from his Kevlar Vest. He had five clips left. He shook his head, "Not enough to take out all of these guys, got an idea?" He spoke to the huddled Initiate. "No sir! Fuck! We are pinned, anyone near us to give us some backup?" Pederson screeched, his voice tearing through the bullets, the desperation ringing louder than the bullets flying through the air into the afternoon.

As if running on a script, Cass and Ben stumbled their way towards them. Cass hit the dirt, rolled and pulled herself against the dirt mound they were using as cover. It was wide, and acted as a sandbag, but wasn't like the guard towers, and various barriers dotting the Fort.

He stood up, and fired another set of bursts. He dropped to the floor as the deafening returning fire decked the air were he once was. He looked over at Cass, who was struggling to hold her M40A5 steady. Richards felt the light bulb flicker on.

He quickly scrambled and helped Cass set up her bipod, "Me and Pederson are gonna go to the left and lay some distracting fire. Ben, you spot for Cass. And Cass? _Don't miss."_

"I won't." She cocked back the bolt, and Richards took off. His boots tearing the dirt apart, his legs moving faster than he thought was unmanageable. Bullets flew past him, whizzing through the wind before they hit the dirt where they were smothered and the velocity stopped.

He dolphin dived into the dirt, and covered his head when a frag grenade flew past him and shrapnel flew everywhere. Pederson soon followed suit, and Richards tossed his final flashbang past their mound of dirt. Hoping he got someone's attention.

He gripped his rifle and started firing, 7.62 ripping through the air at 600 RPM. A bullet whizzed past his head, and he was forced to drop to the floor. He lay prone, his dirt stained fingers fumbling with his vest, trying to grab a clip from his armor. His finger gripped something, and he pulled. Two clips flew out of his vest and hit the floor, several bullets hitting the dirt. He quickly wiped his hands on his uniform and grabbed a magazine.

We he peeked back up, he only got to fire once before the Talon Company zeroed in his position. He hit someone's arm, blood pouring out of that fresh wound before the deafening pop of the mortars breached his eardrums.

"Oh shit." Was spoken behind him, the soft whisper juxtaposing the mess they were about to get in. Richards panic slammed into him faster than his senses. His brain fired up, gears turning in his head. "Hit the deck!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice rasping at his exclamation.

His chest had barely grazed the dirt when the voluminous detonation tore the apart the very seems of the earth. He cracked his eyes open, dirt flying into them. His arms flew up in failed protection of the now irritated orbs. As his body kept getting hit with more pebbles, more stones and soil. The more his anxiety piled up on him. The explosion had launched shrapnel into his right leg, but the main issue was the dirt. It didn't stop falling.

He trying hauling himself to his feet, but the peppering of dirt on his body, hauled him down. Bullets tore through the air, the ringing in his ears at the center of his attention.

He stumbled, before falling to the floor, dirt raining down on top of him. Burying him in a huge displacement of the most abundant resource around them.

* * *

Ben didn't know what was going on. What was happening. More importantly, what to do. So he sat there, in the heat of the battle. Frozen, his finger numbly pulling at the trigger, bullet never flying out of the spent weapon.

Cass was shouting. Men were moving around him, still the grave that lay to his right was terrifying. Their commander was either dead or choking on dirt. His fireteam partner was dead as soon as the impact hit.

Two deaths, and they didn't even amount to anything. Cass fired. Cass reloaded. Cass shot. Cass screamed. Ben stayed still.

Bullets tore up the ground in front of him, dirt spraying into his face, but no reaction slipped out from him.

Just emptiness.

An explosion sounded off to his left. Death filled screams tore through his mind. Still, he made no move.

More men.

More dead.

In the blink of an eye.

A split second and the squad next to him was going to be dead, he was sure of it.

* * *

The light was the first thing he noticed, a blinding white. Tearing through his eyelids, created a shine that lifted his spirits. If he was dead, he had a very warm reception. But as his eyes snapped open, and he glanced around him, there was no perfect world around him.

No death, no war. No fighting. All of it, a dream, a mirage. Something that was there, and the light teased him. He was sure anger was supposed to be his first reaction, but nothing of the lot bubbling in his chest. Threatening to explode. Instead, a dreadful lump in his stomach. A weight, something had gone wrong.

The world snapped into focus, and something was dripping onto his head a calm rate. Relaxing almost, as his body got used to his surroundings. He looked above him, his eyes searching for the source of the mysterious liquid.

Another drop hit his head, his throbbing migraine coming back. His stomach emptied when he saw the body of his second Initiate under his command impaled by the .50 caliber turret. The long barrel of the M2 tearing through the neck of the corpse. Blood slid along the metal and dripping onto his head.

Pain crept into his conciociousness. He knew his body was hurt, but the lack of his bodies natural numbing morphine gave him a shred of hope. He wasn't going to die, atleast not inside the crash landed aircraft. This was not the case for the remaining crew. The Vertibird was torn to shreds, the windows are destroyed. A body was implaled by two chairs and shards of glass tore his throat open. Connor had to avert his gaze, he could hear the silent screams from each of the bodies next to him. Nobody alive was going to stay inside here, but where was everyone else?

His eyes gazed towards the ramp, which was flung several yards away and bits of debris strewn around it. His eyes pulled to left and his gaze caught another two bodies. An arm was missing off of the woman, and he could very clearly count each vein that was pouring blood of the stump of where her left arm once was.

He sputtered and tried holding off the dark thoughts, but his body took control.

The bile that was cooking in his stomach while he was staring at the torn-to-shreds corpses slowly burned it's way up his throat. He held himself still, willing the bile to go back down. No luck, the contents of his empty stomach splattered themselves onto the corpses. Covering them in various horrendous smelling acids. _Oh shit._

If he wanted to survive, he had to get to his radio. Which was across the cabin, and he had to crawl across with his battered body. He couldn't walk past, his legs wouldn't work. So he had to crawl across them. _We both know you should give up. Slow down, you've done your work here soldier. All guns around you, the pain could be over. Close the book and enter the promised lands._

 _ **Not yet.**_

The gunshots piercing his ears told him otherwise.

* * *

Boone shifted his weight, anxiety shone clear on his features. His hands were gripped tight on his Remington 700, but beneath his facade, he was internally panicking.

Alice had fired at him earlier, as soon as they'd landed she'd took him off to the side and screamed at him. The spiteful words still stung his skin, the meanings they possessed scarring themselves into his mind.

She was in the cockpit, most likely to get away from him. He shot a quick glance over his shoulder hoping he'd find her leaving. The metal door was shut, and there was no noise behind it. He sighed, and flicked the cigarette out of his mouth.

He watched as the white cylinder soared through the air, it quickly getting lost in between the green and grey covered skyscrapers of D.C. He sighed and stood up. His legs took him to his seat.

He muttered aloud, his words with twang of a northern accent. Sharp, and it's origins unknown. _Fitting_. _Sounds deadly._ "Next stop, Fort Constantine. Great."


	9. Tooth And Nail

**Yeah. No real excuse for me here. Writer's Block? Yeah. But I'm alright now. Enhancing of chapters two and three this week. Found a way to get past my school's blocklist. So more updates? Knowing my track record, probably not. But hey, I try.**

* * *

"We gotta move! BEN!" The screaming tore at his ears, but the words didn't amount to anything. Cass didn't reach him, and his position was fired on next.

The popping of her ears, and a second later she flung herself to the floor. Her hands reached for the back of her neck, but Ben was more stoic. He was on the floor to the left of her and as she reached out for him, she noticed he was shaking.

The explosion missed by fifty meters, but it was close enough to explode her resolve. "BEN! Snap out of it damn it! We gotta leave!" She grabbed his collar and hefted him to a crouch. His eyes shifted, and then focused.

"No, not yet. We first have to save our field commander." He pointed with his left hand, towards the newly established mound of dirt. Richards was alive, she knew, injured, but still alive. Pederson was less lucky. As she watched the mortar hit, the explosion tore through Pederson's body. But it effectively shielded Richards from the shrapnel.

She nodded, and slung her rifle. Ben pulled up his Service Rifle and gripped his stock. "Anyone who wants to leave, on me!" As he shouted he sprung to his feet, the boots tearing the dirt. As the mud gave way to fresh footprints, Cass was right behind him. She slid behind cover as the resulting hail of bullets tore apart the space she once held. Ben was digging Richards out of his grave.

A coughing fit, and a couple of swears loud enough to be heard in the Commonwealth, and she knew he was alive. The next round of bullets served up at breakneck speed didn't allow her to ponder this much longer. The rocking of the very core of the earth erupted twenty five meters away from their position. The mortars were dialing in, and they had to move. _Now._

Richards gripped the Service Rifle in his bruised hands. His head pounded, and the light hurt his eyes, but he was alive. He tried standing to his feet, but his left leg let out a hearty protest. It was broken, as his body shifted, the little bits and pieces still inside of his legs seemed to prod and poke his flesh.

He groaned, but he had no time to rest. Ben gripped his Kevlar Vest and started dragging him along, Richards fired, two shots hit. Two bodies hit the concrete of the Fort. He aimed once more, and the bullets punctured through a chest and and a head, respectively.

His eyes closed for a second, and as they reopened, he didn't focus on the enemies in front of him. Instead, his troops. The sprinting bodies with rifles in their grasps, or on their backs. Desperately dodging, ducking and weaving to get out of the line of fire. His offensive was shattered, and the Talon Company had effectively taken out the chance they had to break their defense. The next time they'd face, their defenses would be set up. No longer vulnerable.

He had a single chance and he wasted it. Ben shouted behind him, "Cass, where the FUCK is our backup? Do we even have an EVAC on the way?" The words were punctual and cutthroat, shredding the air of it's blurry haze. He was back into the fray, and he had to think.

"Final Stand at the VERTIBIRD! WE USE THE TURRETS TO HOLD OUT FOR AS LONG AS WE CAN!" He shouted, Ben nodded and pulled him to the right.

He fired off another four rounds and dropped another set of Mercs. They had done some damage for such a small force, taking at least forty five of them out. This seemed to be their entire force, and so the loss of forty, was a lot, but not dire.

He coughed more dirt out of his mouth, and reclaimed. Richards steadied his breathing and reaimed, the anxiety in his chest slowly dispersing. If he had to die, he was going to die killing all of those mercs in the name of the Brotherhood.

* * *

"Piper!?" Jayden fully awake now, the fatigue completely gone from his body. The sight of his always breathtaking wife was always something brightened his day. The preppy reporter immediately pulled him into a deep kiss…

In front of the rest of the Brotherhood.

Sarah cleared her throat, about to ask about the kids. If Piper was here, then Ally was here. If Ally was here… god, she would lose her mind.

Instead, behind her was Arthur Maxson. The squire she and Alex took care of way back when. After the Broken Steel Offensive, things had slowed down, and peacetime ensued. She and Alex were warriors. With no major battles to lead, they were Alex may have been bright and charismatic, but he was no scribe. So with time on their hands, they'd train some initiates and go on the occasional OP. But, most of their time was raising the last Remnant of the Brotherhood original bloodline. She loved the kid.

She was probably the closest he had to a mother, and… _God Sarah, you are old._ She couldn't help but agree with that. It was ten years since she was young and in love with the Lone Wanderer.

She couldn't do anything to change that fact, but at 31, she looked as young as ever. She silently chidded herself and quickly stood to attention at the young Elder.

"Maxson, sir." He responded in turn, but he was here to meet with the scribes. The mutant and Talon offensive was a trivial thing in his eyes, and she could help but hope he was right. She had lost minimal men, but she didn't like to lose any men if she had to.

Behind Maxson were two guards in Power Armor, T-60. Small bodies were in front of them, and judging by their stances, those guards were protecting something.

Then it hit her. She was an idiot. Shaun and Nat sprinted off towards their father, and the younger Ally seemed to gallop towards her. As she opened her arms to brace for Ally, Alex had swooped in and had her in his arms.

He juggled her in the air, much to her delight. "Oh I missed you so much, daddy missed you so much you know that? Little Berry, mama missed you too!"

Sarah was at his side in a blink on an eye, and she had now taken Ally from his grasp. "MAMA!" She shouted into the Leather Armor, Sarah had donned. Sarah grinned at Alex, who matched her smile in turn. Pearly white teeth shining back, picking up her current jubilation and igniting it to the next heart soared. Despite Alex taking a step back in terms of mental health sometimes, she still loved him. He was still the man she fell in love with at Chevy Chase those years ago.

* * *

The rotating barrels spun, the air becoming baked with heat. The tension filled cabin as the soldiers heard the explosions and gunshots tear through the airwaves was disheartening. They'd been fighting for well over two hours. As the got closer, waves of black dots poured out of the Fort and towards a plume of smoke. The Vertibird.

Maybe a dozen men versus seventy. Long arms and a handful of lasers, two turrets up against a volley of explosives and countless weapons.

"Fire up the guns, and drop me in!" Alice sounded off in the cramped cabin. Boone whipped around, "Like hell you are."

Alice grabbed his Combat Armor and pulled him close, "Who cares? Doesn't seem like you do."

Boone grunted in disapproval, but she pushed past him before he could let out the rest of his argument. Alice was tenacious, a dangerous double edged sword of a trait she possessed. She wanted anything more than anyone, but here was suicide. Everyone wants to bail out their allies, but nobody should jump towards certain death just for the slim chance of everything going right.

Still, Boone couldn't argue. Alice was too pissed off, and he found it was best to stay out of the way of the silent courier. Her silence meant she was feeling something at least, and with her recent shift in moods, he was glad he at least knew what he was up against. Much harder to gauge where he was in relation to her when she dead silent. It infuriated him, how they could be so close, but she still kept to herself. He opened up on many things to her, she showed him how.

Bittersprings…

Carla. All those memories, all those sleeping dogs he'd rather have let lie then to relieve them in front of a stranger. But she persisted and his resolve broke, and Boone had learned to trust. He had learn to not lock himself away, and what had she done now?

Thrown herself in a cage and consume the key. She had no remorse for her actions, and so when she stepped passed, he felt that he should let her go. Let her fight for what she wanted to. Not against him for stopping her.

He hoped he was right, but as the chainguns revved up his thoughts were laying on the floor. Like caliber ready to be fired out of the fifty cal barrel.

He turned and crouched near the ramp, to the right, the chaingun. Behind him, the Brotherhood forces he'd learn to trust in recent days. He brought his eye up, and looked down the chevron. As they swayed through the air, firing various bullets and various speeds to various targets. They dropped quickly. But, he knew that their opposition would not be in a great standings for long. They had manpower, but they had gotten greedy, and chased the survivors of the crash.

As he fired, and the bullet entered the digestive system of a Talon Company Super Mutant, he felt at peace. At least for a while. He could worry about Alice later. Right now, he was in his element.

Boone had gotten cocky. They'd mowed down their targets in their first strafe run. After the second they started taking fire. Enough to nearly plunge them out of the sky, and into the welcoming dirt below.

Alice was... Firing two rifles at once, the crackle of insanity burning in her pupils. Every kill she got, Boone could tell her heart soared. She was standing, full height with no regard to the very real danger of falling out.

He'd turned his back on her and went to grab for a more appropriate rifle. When he turned back, the automatic AER-9 in hand, Alice was gone. His anxiety flew through the Vertibird's roof. He quickly ran to the ramp, and saw her. On the ground next to her were two supply rucksacks. Three rifles, and a shotgun lying on it's side. Alice was crouched behind several Talon Company munition boxes. She still raised her rifles, and still tore their opposition to bits.

She was going to die, but he still had a chance to get her out of their unfortunate situation. He'd jumped off, his fingers barely grazing the rope as he pierced the air, getting closer to her. Several men behind him had followed, but the aircraft had pulled away. Their only support was gone, and was now at the crash. There was seven of them, several craters and munitions boxes to use as cover. All nice and dandy, up until the next row of Mercs pushed them. He figured he'd have an hour left of his life left.

Not really. He'd taken out bigger hordes than this. Yeah he wasn't gonna die in an hour. Who did he think he was? A merc?No. He'd have two.

* * *

Connor reached the radio after frivolous attempts. His entire body seemed to despise living, every moment, every twitch. Another burning sensation in his muscle, or another droplet of blood would hit the floor.

He coughed, and his injured diaphragm seemed to implode. He wheezed, and tried connecting to the Citadel, but no cigar. His shaking fingers vigorously tapped away on the side of his helmet. "No. Not now, fuck, connect!" He quietly lost his mind. He wasn't going to make it much longer without a medic. He was alright on the outside, but he had some internal bleeding. To the extent and the rate was out of his expertise.

He was hurt, but he was not a medic.

Footsteps and gunshots got closer. He nudged one of the fallen bodies next to him, and pulled a Laser Rifle out of a Aspirant's grasp.

He flicked the switched and the familiar hum of electricity returned. He aimed down the glow sights and when he saw forms, he hesitated.

Not everyone was dead.

He lowered his weapon, and doubled over. Another wave, this time threatening to drown him in the choking grasp of death itself. But he persisted through it. He wanted to die protecting the rest of his surviving crew. Maybe it was loyalty, or the Brotherhood codex in him speaking. Whatever it was, it was right.

As they quickly got rid of the bodies, and had tended to him, wrapping him in gauze. They took up positions. The miniguns on the Vertibird were able to be operated. He leaned against one of the torn walls, and kicked out one of the remaining panes of glass.

He lifted his rifle into the gap, and used the seat as support. He looked to his left, to see the injured Richards help his men move seats out of the cabin so that they could lay the injured down.

He sighed, and looked out the window, examining the drab grey surroundings before they'd be painted red.

It wasn't supposed to be this hard, to hold out for evac. There was a open plain in front of them, and they were inside of the metal cabin. How were they getting shot to bits? Richards was leaning against a stack of chairs and firing from a FAL he had scavenged.

They had gotten some Vertibird support from Boone and Alice's squad, but they hadn't touched down yet. Above him, the distinct tangs of bullet casings hitting the top of the beached bird. The VULCAN Miniguns were firing above him now, but the entirety of Talon's mercs were in front of them.

Mutants and mercenaries, firing at their metal coffin. Connor ducked, and took a second to scan his surroundings. The walls of the Vertibird were peppered in tiny holes. Bullet holes. Hundreds of them all hitting the same spot had managed to rip through the battered steel.

He knew their shelter wasn't going to last, but he hoped that at least backup would've been there.

* * *

"Why the hell is it taking so long? Huh? You tell me why our troops have been spending this time dragging their feet?" Sarah yelled. Maxson flinched at his mentor's harsh words. He was no coward when it came to the attrition of vowels, but Sarah was unmatched. His mouth kept shut. Mind running, he spat a hasty response.

"At let them get gunned down in the open field? There is no cover, and we haven't stopped them. They've got mutants, and they don't let up. They don't get tired. We do. I've sent two Vertibird squads, support for them, minutes of preparation time for us. We need them to stop so we can come in with a larger force. Unless, of course, you want us to walk."

Sarah slammed her fist on the table. No Power Armor on, but she was still dangerous. The steel table shuddered underneath her fist. "What do you think we used to do before we got all of this technology? Arthur, we walked. We may have aircraft and some wheels on the ground, but those take time to get up and running. We don't got those hours, we've got half an hour at most. Before we lost the entire fort and it's armaments to the Talon mercs."

Maxson stepped forward, examining the map table in front of them. "We've sent three squads. Power Armor is heavy, also takes time to move men across several miles. The mercs are hired guns. Mutants yes, but they'll also need time to operate those weapons. Security in there will stop them, even if it's only for a little while."

Sarah sighed, sensing the fruitlessness of their current situation. "Lyons Pride? Always ready in the blink of an eye. Or just Alex. He's got countless numbers of safehouses in the D.C area alone. Our current numbers on them are 45. He's told me he's got 117 there. Filled with tunnels, and with standard Brotherhood supplies. He'll find a way, I know it."

She glanced at the map, her eyes scanning the former shining city of the government. Way back when, now. Sometimes she'd have time to read about the former inhabitants of the contient. America, Mr. Untouchable. Up until it wasn't. Still, they'd lasted longer without fighting than the Brotherhood had. From the Enclave to the Institute. They weren't strangers to war. But they were strangers to the weapons that had ended life as it once was.

She stood up. Glancing over her shoulder at the silent Elder as she walking away, she spoke. "Maxson. The Talon Company isn't just hired guns anymore. They've got a leader. In what was once a place called New York.

She paused. Her feet stopped and she turned around. "We'll kill all of these sons of bitches in Constantine. But we need to kill the snake by the head, or else it'll keep coming back. The Pride, Alex and I will not be joining that expedition. Neither will you. Not for… a while. At least."

With that, she turned heel and walked out of the room. She had more pressing matters to attend to.


	10. Crash Course

**Wow, thanks for the continued support despite no update in, well, that's a loooong time. I've been firing away at this for a while trying to get the best out me for a while. I really hope you enjoy. Thank you all again, PepoClap**

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* * *

Boone quickly darted his head behind the bullet-riddled metal box in front of him. The bullet searching for his skull whizzed overhead and dug into the dirt behind him. He peeked and fired once, blindly hoping he'd hit someone. He watched the bullet sail, and miss his target by fifteen meters. He repeeked and fired twice more. This time, both bullets buried their casings into their target. He dropped to the ground again when the amassment of mercs reloaded, reaimed, and refired. His entire cover was peppered with several dozen rounds, each one rattling the earth.

He looked to his left to see his remaining men in the same position. He'd lost four, each death cutting their possibility of survival by a factor of fifty. He gripped the ammo crate and looked over the edge. They were running. He tossed a glance behind him, the decayed Vertibird was still riddled with bullets a hundred and ten meters behind him. His backup Vertibird's had pulled off, the Tactical Gunships took a beating. He gripped the SCAR-L in his hand and propped it onto the box. The Talon Mercs were still sprinting. He fired half of his magazine, before shouting to his team. "We pushed them back! Reload and rearm! We've still got work to-"

The decimation of the earth's crust was not pretty. The explosion tore his eardrums, and launched him backwards. Darkness covered his features, mud, dirt, and brick zipped around his body. Some scraping his chest, other's bouncing off his right shoulder or digging into his arms. The blinding, white-hot pain was causing him to screech in pain. When his mouth opened, dirt invited it's way into his orifice. He gagged, coughed and tumbled over. His left leg hooked around a fallen rifle and his ankle twisted. A second later, he hit the ground.

Another blink of an eye, and the weight of world consumed him. Mountains of dirt dogpiled ontop of him, crushing his chest. Naturally, he wheezed, his body desperately looking to refill it's now empty stock of oxygen. His left arm shot up, clawing at the surface. Someone gripped his clothed hand and pulled him up, his head broke the surface and the sun shot a blinding ray into his eyes. Wwwelcome back moron! Boone's eyes opened, as she dragged him behind a pile of dirt. His head hurt and the thundering shots didn't help. Alice gripped his chestplate and the world shot back into his veins. His head stopped spinning and he focused on the words escaping Alice's mouth.

"-Reinforcements are here, we need to move! B-ooone!" She slapped his face, his head snapped back up. "Yeah, yeah. Pull me up, let's go." His voice was low, as if he swallowed a mouthful of gravel. He coughed, spitting out bits and pieces of the ground. He took Alice's hand and rose to his feet. A small fleet of grey clad Vertibirds flew overhead. Boone thought he saw twelve, but he supposed that was the slight off feeling he had in his head. He stumbled forward, and caught himself from face planting onto the mud. He placed a hand on the softened earth, and reached for a pistol. His fingers touched a torn Glock grip, and he pulled it out of the evergiving ground. He turned, and steadied himself on a box. "Still gotta buy our birds some time to land by us! Grab a gun." He shook his head, which had a steady thump and fired once. Twice, and once more. Three bullets soared, and imbedded the dirt. His aim was way off. He sunk behind the grey crate and extended a clip to Alice. She turned, and fired a burst from a P250. She crouched again, and the thundering of the air overhead brought his gaze upwards. Evac, was here.

The white insignia shone bright against the blue sky. The light hit the Vertibird at an angle that Boone could only describe as heavenly. The cabin door swung open, and bullets immediately erupted from the interior. Several beams flew past them and pierced the now crumbling retreat of mercenaries. The Vertibird breezed over to them, the dust around him bounced as it stopped a foot from the floor. Alice fired twice more, before charging at the open doors ten feet behind. Boone watched as her slender form reached the cabin and in an instant, her body whipped around and he saw her eyes scanning for him. He tossed a look ahead of him towards the firing from the mercenaries, and took off before his rational side could protest. His feet tore up the soft dirt underfoot, and the bullets chasing after him hit the metal armor of the Vertibird. He jumped as soon as the Vertibird started to take off the ground. Alex appeared over the side and caught both of his arms. Three thundering bodies hit the ground, the vibrations shaking his arms. Alex's soldiers had jumped off to allow their exit to succeed.

A brief breath of hope entered his lungs as the sterlie gloves gripped his leather armor. His left leg scrambled to hook himself inside, but a well placed bullet slammed itself into Boone's leg. Boone's body instinctively shook, and Alex lost his grip, the Vertibird was now fifteen feet in the air and couldn't afford to stall. Boone was hanging off the side of the VTOL craft as they started taking fire. He let go of Boone's left arm and grabbed his Laser Rifle and fired at the Mercs on the ground. With his right he tossed him into the cabin. He shifted, and aimed the rifle spraying the ground with rays of red.

* * *

Richards fired again, and he quickly shifted behind cover. His back hurt, and his leg was still out of commision. The chopping of the air as their incoming reinforcements landed gave him a ray of hope. He quickly motioned for the injured Connor to come over to him. Connor nodded, and hobbled to a crouch, making his way over. Connor took the nearly empty FAL out of his hands and fired the remaining bullets towards the super mutants left behind by the Talon Company to disrupt their exit. He tossed the empty rifle and hefted Richards onto his back.

The interior of the cabin slowed. The firing stopped, and Connor's body stopped protesting, if only for a moment. It was a scene of brutality. Several mounds of bodies lay stacked on top of each other, next to many scrapped pieces of seats and the sort. Those corpses had clogged up the entire cockpit, where the pilots lay strapped into their seats, their faces of horror still imprinted. He stumbled, and nearly tripped over one of the dozen of fallen 5.56 rifles. Each was either torn and crumbling or empty with no chance of a reload. His torn boots kicked away a SCAR-L and the world came flying back.

Connor's head was pounding, and his internal organs were screaming at him to get into the medical wing, but he persisted. His feet crushed the casing ridden floor as he slowly trudged out of the decimated cabin. His feet continued their trek, another step, another warning from his body. He blinked, and when his eyes reopened, two soldiers flanked him. One took Richards from his back, and the other seemed to talk to him. He continued walking, continued staring forward.

He vaguely felt the world around him, instead the environment was wrapped in a white haze. A glow. He just wanted to reach out and touch it, to feel something in this sluggish state. His eyes fluttered opened, and he was looking straight into a slate grey colored ceiling. He let out a cough, and the world focused back it's grime covered self.

"One, two, SHOCK!-" Sterilized voices sounded out, just as the vivid revving sounded.

He grimaced, and he let out a small gasp. He heard something, something cut through the silence. A flash, and then a violent shake. He lifted his head, they were in the air now, and he shifted his weight to turn to his side.

The cabin doors were open, and a Brotherhood Aspirant was commanding the Gatling Gun, but his eyes found the color amid the haze. A blaze of orange and red. The tail end of a Tactical Variant Vertibird was on fire. The tail rotor was slowing down, they were still at a high altitude, but they were going to go down if they didn't get help. His body fired back at all the commotion, and a sharp pain made him see red.

He fell back onto the makeshift cot, as the medics hurried over from the cockpit to stabilize him.

* * *

Alex's helmet flickered on with a sheath of blue light. A small rock shuddered in the aircraft, and it pressed on the "accept call" and Sarah's face appeared on the screen. A muffled Alex rang out. Another call of his name and his eyes flickered open. The siding of the cabin was been hit with a rocket hit and was now barely hanging on as the Vertibird soared through the air at breakneck speed.

He muttered something against the steel floor before picking himself up. Immediately he heard the shouting, Boone was unconscious, and Alice was yelling at the pilots something incomprehensible. He quickly nabbed his fallen helmet and put it on.

"Sarah! I'm here! What do you need?" He shouted, the shaking of the aircraft nearly knocking him off balance. He quickly grabbed the railing and slid Archangel over his back. He looked out the cabin towards their tail.

"We've got one chance to spearhead a defense, and take back control of the fort. Several Brotherhood soldiers have reached the northern hull and are ready to advance. Twenty soldiers, get there. Now." Her voice was sharp, and her face was stoic.

Alex was red, and out of breath. He peeked around the cabin door and fired several times. He didn't get to watch the trajectory before another bullet whizzed passed his head and slammed into his steel clad shoulder. He stepped back from the sudden impact, but not injured. He peeked, and fired another shot. "Not exactly in a position to get there,-" A loud crash proved his point, and the distinct plume of ash grey filled up the sky around them.

He took a last glance at the flaming end of their VTOL aircraft before muttering, "Yeah, I think we're gonna go down here." He took a gaze at the fallen NCR Ranger for a second. He was clutching his leg, trying to apply a field bandage when another wave of bullets clattered against them. "Boone! Time to bail!" He didn't wait for an answer before turning to enter the cockpit.

An explosion blew out the cockpit windows, and a spray of bullets ate away at the inhabitants. Alice screeched, and Alex quickly darted inside, his palm already holding a stimpack for anyone in critical condition. Alice was reeling backwards, and Alex caught her before she slammed her skull into the steel plating behind them. He turned her to look at him, and her forearms were laced with chunks of glass. She shook in his grasp and reached for a railing to steady herself. "Sarah, I've got to do the suicide play to even get us a chance at leaving out of here alive. Power Armor can withstand the impact of me, and two others right!?" He shouted, and her reaction was a gaze of desperation. "Don't. You. Dare." Her voice was slathered in a venomous undertone, but Alex merely deflected before manning the controls.

* * *

Alice coughed, and fell to her knees in the cabin. Her arms stung, and the amount of blood flowing like rivers covering her tan skin with candy cane colored blood was sickening. She lost her balance, and slid forwards a foot, her fingers grasping for a emergency hook on the floor. Her fingers picked at it, grasping it and steadying herself from her numb body.

Boone was at her side, and seated her on one of the chairs and reached for a Laser Rifle. Boone shifted and helped her into a seat. She slid in her seat as the Vertibird shifted for the umpteenth time and started to pull upwards. She leaned over and nabbed a pistol stored on the side of the metal chair. Her right arm protested and her strength was gone in a blink of an eye. Her shaking fingers tore away at the field bandage packaging she had in her chestplate. She applied both onto her arms, just to stop the steady flow of blood from pouring out from the various cavities lining both forearms.

Alice slowly rose from her seat, and a bullets tore through the air, and completely chopped off one of her magazine pockets on her plate carrier, narrowly missing her ribs. She quickly increased her pace, her left foot caught on a rifle, but she caught herself on the cockpit doorway and stumbled in. Her feet shuffled inside, one of them feeling stiffer than the other, but she dismissed it. She reached for one of the chairs and look at her unofficial team leader struggle with commanding the controls.

Alex huffed and pulled the throttle to the right, "We aren't gonna be going high-" His voice was drowned out by an explosion that she could swear blew up her eardrums. She immediately covered her head and

They'd actually been hit this time, a high velocity rocket tore through the steel paneling of the Vertibird. Shrapnel tore apart the cabin, a massive divot of the roof tore clean off, smoke flying everywhere.

Alex tapped his controls once more, but nothing happened, he looked back and realized they had no rotors anymore. He had only a single wing, and no supporting rotors. He turned back and shouted, "Get out of the Vertibird! GET THE FUC-"

His position had exploded, and the cockpit erupted in flames. Alex was shielded from the blast of the consoles from his Power Armor, but Alice had taken a direct hit. The flames and smoke had blocked his vision, and the Vertibird was spinning out of control, the fragments of it left rapidly heading towards the ground. Alice had fallen back, her body pushed against debris from the consoles, and was screaming. Both her and Sarah screeched, piercing his thoughts with a spearhead. He darted, and tossed her over his shoulder before breaking through the steel doorway. The hinges flew off, darting through the air, before slamming into the ground. The foundation of the VTOL groaned just as he gripped whatever body part of Boone's he could get a hold of and vaulted out the aircraft.

He held his breath, and his lungs inhaled the sharp, filtered air in his helmet, time slowed. His eyes scanned through the slightly tinted visor, gazing at their target. A rooftop, covered in various construction materials. Several sandbags, a handful of small pistols, steel plates, and the sort. He noticed the highpitched squealing in his ears next. Sarah was tearing her lungs apart trying to gain his attention. His fingers lost a tiny bit of grip on someone's leg. His head snapped down, and his gaze meet the terrified eyes of Boone. He was grasping Alex's metal chest, desperately trying to strengthen the bond between them. Alex swung Boone towards the right side of chest, and the pressure of Boone's fingers digging into his side plating let him know he was alright.

Alice's steady bleeding, covering his chest in maroon sped up his heart rate. He clutched both of his dependents closer to his chest as soon as time started to catch up to them. He felt his legs locking up, anxious as to the impending impact. He felt himself slice through the air, and the roof sped up, growing bigger every milisecond. He started to lean backwards, to make their landing much more possible.

His left foot broke through the surface first, his steel clad foot smashing through the unprepared concrete. His power armor clad leg tensed up. His suspensions braced themselves for the next breakthrough. His right ankle shattering the concrete and tearing through the rebar like butter. He instinctively brought the couple closer to his chest as his lower back broke through the roof. His right oxygen tank got torn from the edge, and the explosion burst his helmet's sound protection. He blinked, and the freefall continued.

The building, enacting revenge of the decimation of it's roof slammed back into the trio. His left arm clipped the stairwell, completely shattering the metal panelling protecting his forearms from the impact, and turning him twenty degrees to the right. He panicked, and quickly lifted them both out in front of him, and his back shattered the bottom floor. The marble shrieked, and it's many pieces stuck out like daggers. Each took a slice against the metal tank that had fallen on them. The floor itself shook, and the marble sunk, exposing the supporting rebar, which Alex broke through like foundation shook his core, and the groans of the NCR he saved were the last things he heard before closing his eyes.

Alex let out a grunt, and his helmet popped off from the impact. Alice was curled up against Boone, still screaming. The blood pooling around her body flowed like a waterfall. Her arms were getting poked and prodded by the harsh marble. Boone summoned his remaining strength and lifted her up, fireman style, trudging towards a table still intact. Alice was still clutching her forearms, holding the fallen bandages, placing pressure on her wounds.

Alex's steel clad fist slammed into the concrete pillar next to him and let out a groan. "Boone, on me." He breathed out, his chest heaving, and his breaths laboured. A small whimper of pain escaped his lips as Boone crouched next to him. Alex lightly placed two stimpaks onto Boone's palm and motioned for his helmet. Alex let out another shaky breath, "I need to call Sarah, the stims in my suit will keep me stable, but you gotta make sure Alice doesn't die."

Boone snapped out of his haze, and bounded over to Alice's body. He nicked both needles into her arm and she turned and cried into his chest, droplets of blood staining the dirt covered armor. He turned around and made his way back towards the Sentinel.

Sarah was shouting, and the soft feeling of the floor was tempting. The slowing of his breath, and the dimming of his vision. His wife was panicking, but all he saw was a lyoness meeting his gaze. His lips parted, and several words flowed out of his mouth. Her face stopped for a split second, and he could see the reaction slowly glaze over her features. The reprimanding voice was gone, and instead was a pleading cry. He breathed out, his voice breaking. "Sss-Sarah, I could-" He closed his eyes, and allowed the pain to subside before continuing

His neck twitched, but he clutched a fistful of marble shards. He took a painful breath, "Get me outta here. Sarah, or I'm gonna die. Talon Company is almost dead. He coughed, and a internal Med-X stabbed into his arm. A slight dribble of blood left his mouth, dripping around his ear, staining his hazel hair.

"Please."


End file.
